Will you be our Yuri Valentine?

[cypher]

Hey all! Ready to get this thing fired up for another round of fabulous f/f fic and art?

We'd like to try something a little different this time -- instead of running another prompt fest, we're hoping you'll join us for a Valentine's exchange.

Here's the quick rundown of how things will work:

Where: Fandom/character nominations happen right here; signups and posting will happen on the AO3 so we can use their automated tools.

When: Fandom/character nominations start right now (nominations post!) and run until December 12. Signups open December 13 and run until December 28. Assignments go out on December 28 (or 29 if matching is tough) and fic/art is due on February 10. (A mad dash for any necessary pinch hits goes here.) Fic and art goes live on the archive on February 14.

What: You commit to creating one story of 1000+ words, or two stories of 500+ words; or one polished artwork or two clean sketches. Your work should include some kind of sexual or romantic element between the characters (ETA: this sentence has been rephrased to remove the "relationship" phrasing; we don't mean to exclude encounters that are not part of an ongoing relationship). Explicit content is not required, but please make it clear that there is attraction and/or affection going on between these ladies.

Eligible fandoms: All East Asian source fandoms are eligible. The term "yuri" comes from Japanese fandom and is usually used in the anime/manga/video game parts of English-language fandom; we encouraged manhua and manhwa last round and are broadening this round to allow dramas & music fandoms from East Asian backgrounds also. (Please, if you're in those fandoms, encourage your friends to sign up! Neither of your mods has much background there.)

Eligible characters: All characters in this challenge should be female-identified. If a character's gender identity is presented ambiguously in canon, you may nominate her on the understanding that she will be treated as female for the purpose of this challenge. Characters who crossdress while clearly still identifying as male are not eligible.

If you need an AO3 account: Leave a comment to this post or PM either cypher or vangirl with your email address and we'll send you an invite so you can skip the queue.

Questions? What did I forget to cover? Ask away!

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

Eeeee! SUPER EXCITE!

[tg]

Quick question regarding BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER. o7

Would the girls and their alternate selves be counted as separate characters? So would you have to nominate Mato separately from BRS? Would you also have to specify whether you're going with OVA, game, or TV canon? The game canon is wildly different from the other two, even if the other two are related, so I was just curious.

[cypher]

Oh gosh, tricky!

I don't know the fandom, so I'm going to ask -- which way does it make more sense to you? If they're nominated & input on the form separately, that means you can specify which you want; is it important to be able to *request* Mato separately from BRS?

If there are that many differences between the game and the other versions, it does sound like it'd be easier for people to offer a specific version -- maybe just game vs anime, if the TV and OVA have more overlap.

Basically, I am willing to put the form together whichever way seems more helpful for you as a participant in the fandom!

[tg]

There'd be a pretty big difference between requesting Mato and BRS, since requesting Mato would be like, "I want the cute school girls!" and requesting BRS would be like, "I want the post-apocalyptic fighters!" So it might be best to go with them separated, if that's okay. ♥

Game vs anime could work out. We won't actually know how different the OVA and the TV series are until the TV series starts airing in January, but. orz ♥!

I hope this helped.

[moontyger]

Probably a dumb question, but just to be sure - I know one fandom I absolutely want to nominate, but am unsure on the other 3. Can I nominate that one and just come back and add the others, maybe in a comment to that one?

Asked because I am the kind of fail who could end up missing nominations altogether if I wait to decide all four first. >.>

[cypher]

Absolutely you can do that, yes! :3

[amazing-e-ko.livejournal.com]

I was linked to this and it sounds super cool! I would love to join in, but I don't have an AO3 account. Can you help? My email address is amazing_e_ko at hotmail dot com.

A quick question while I'm at it. What are the rules about big fandoms with unpopular yuri pairings (I'm thinking of Bleach/Rukihime, specifically.)?

[cypher]

Your AO3 invite is on the way!

And all yuri pairings are allowed, no matter how popular or not they might be. ^^

Question

[angel_negra]

What about tokusatsu, would that be allowed? It's generally applied to Japanese live action series. There's even a Sailor Moon series that fits, though there's also Super Sentai, Kamen Rider and Ultraman.

Re: Question

[cypher]

Yes, absolutely! Please encourage friends in your fandoms to sign up too, so we'll be able to match everyone. ^^

[samuraiter]

*raises hand*

Oh, I definitely wanna play here. :-) The nominators have already more than covered all of my fandoms, too.

The question: Would it be okay if I jumped in strictly to fill and / or do pinch hits? I don't really have any requests in mind. (It's kinda like being at a buffet with all my favorite foods, you see.)

[cypher]

Absolutely -- we'll be putting a pinch hit list together later in the month, and volunteers for that will be more than welcome. I'm not sure yet how easy it will be to generate a list of all requests (I think the new challenge code on the AO3 provides a way to do that, but I haven't played with it yet), but if I can get that working then that would also be awesome. ^^

[scifisentai]

Out of curiosity, are crossovers allowed?

[cypher]

You'll be able to mention in your request details that you'd like them, but we can't match on them -- the crossover would need to be an additional option; you'd still need to have single-fandom requests for each of your fandoms.

[scifisentai]

Oh, I pretty sure I'd be able to match them, I know someone else who ships them who's thinking of signing up, but for simplicity's sake I might not request them. :) Thanks for the help. :)

[umiyuki]

Question about content rules: I'm unclear on the bit about the characters having to be in a romantic or sexual relationship - I think the relationship part is tripping me up. What constitutes a relationship here? Would, for example, a non-consensual scenario between two characters who don't know each other well qualify for this challenge?

[umiyuki]

And I am so sorry if this question has come off as kink-shaming or problematic; that wasn't my intention but I can see how it could be read that way. I really am just hung up on the word relationship because of the connotations it holds for me personally; I'm not trying to invalidate anything, just trying to make sure I understand the requirements.

[cypher]

No no, sorry about the delay getting back to you -- I opened this before I left for work and then didn't have time to type things up. ^^;

I can definitely see where "relationship" is kind of a trip-up there, and is excluding some scenarios that would be acceptable for the challenge (including the non-con possibility you mention above, and also including things like one night stands between women who are otherwise strangers to each other).

The intent there is to require a sexual and/or romantic element of some kind, to focus on f/f pairings as opposed to female-focused gen -- there's definitely a need for more of that, too, but it's not what we're focusing on for this challenge.

I'll try to tinker with the wording there this evening and see if I can make it less troublesome.

Thanks for asking!

[jack_of_none]

Thanks for addressing this question -- I've been waffling on signups because a pairing I really want to request is sort of by definition dub-con-y at best.

[cypher]

Thanks for the reminder about this issue! I've actually fixed it in the post now. ^^;

And yes, please don't let this stop you! You will be in good company. ^^

[qem_chibati]

Sorry to bother, but where is the sign up form? :D

[qem_chibati]

Never mind, I'm an idiot that somehow missed it. >.<;

[scifisentai]

Hm, having never participated in a challenge based around the AO3 before I'm unsure what to do with my finished fic. Do I post it directly to the comm (now or later) or email it to the mods or some other thing I'm not thinking of? >.>

[cypher]

You post it directly to the challenge community on AO3! The challenge settings will keep it hidden until the collection gets revealed.

There are a couple of ways to get to the assignment-posting page; here's one that's pretty straightforward:

- Go to http://archiveofourown.org/collections/yurichallenge2012 when logged in

- Click "Your Assignment" in the menu on the left

- At the bottom of the page with your assignment, click the "Fulfill" button.

That will open the Post New Work page with the collection and your recipient's name already filled in, so your work will get to the right place. :3

Let me know if you have any trouble with it!

[scifisentai]

Thank you, I think I can handle it from there. :)

[littlebutfierce]

Will the collection remain open between the 10th & 14th for uploading things besides pinch hits? (*coughcough* treats? :D )

[cypher]

Have conferred with my co-mod, and we think that only good things can come of this, so yes! Posting of treats is welcome. ^_^

[littlebutfierce]

Yay! :D

[jack_of_none]

Dumb question -- when you say the archive "goes live" on Feb 14, do you mean that's when stories become readable or that's when author names are revealed?

Also a dumb question, if we have (hypothetically) two things we were working on for the challenge and only finished the one, would we be able to upload the second one as a treat later, Yuletide-style, as long as we fulfilled the requirements of the challenge by the deadline?

[jack_of_none]

Actually, should have read the comments, haha. I see now that treats are OK.

[cypher]

Yep, as you saw, treats are fine! and the 14th is when stories will be revealed; author reveals will wait a couple of days after that (probably not long, though). Everyone will get their fic/art on Valentine's Day. :3

[jack_of_none]

OK, awesome! Thanks.