2023 Rules & FAQ

[tigerlily]

Star Trek Holidays is an AO3 based gift exchange for the Star Trek franchise, similar to Secret Santas and other fanwork gift exchanges. Anything Star Trek is included (shows, movies, books, comics, videos games, etc).



Rules



Participate in good faith and have fun!

• You must give a gift that includes at least one of the recipients' requested fandoms and relationships (not necessarily the one you matched on), in at least one of the medium(s) the recipient has requested, and which does not involve any of the Do Not Wants (DNWs) in the recipient's sign up.


• The gift must be:
  
  
  • a fic of at least 1,000 words long;
  
  
  • a podfic of a fic of at least 1,000 words in length OR 500 words of a fic created for this round;
  
  
  • a piece of art not on lined paper that has clean linework;
  
  
  • or a fanvid of at least 1:00 in length.
  
  
  
  


• All gifts must adhere to the recipients’ DNWs. If a DNW is included, the creator of that gift may be banned from participation at mod discretion.


• Crossovers between Star Trek canons, e.g. James to Kirk (TOS)/Christopher Pike (AOS) appear under “Star Trek Crossover Fandom”, with “Crossover Fandom” being reserved for crossovers between Star Trek canons and other canons.
  


• Please do not reveal yourself as a work creator until the anonymous period has ended.


• If your gift is in violation of a DNW, please contact the mod.


• Defaulters are not guaranteed a gift.

Fanwork Requirements

• Fanfiction: Participants must write a 1,000 word minimum completed fic based on the request by their recipient. Fics must adhere to the recipient's Do Not Wants (DNWs), or else the recipient will go out to pinch hit. There is no word count requirement for gifts given as treats, but they must be for a ship and fandom the recipient requested and not include their DNWs.


• Fanart: Participants must complete a finished, original fanart piece. Your piece doesn’t have to be colored, but it must be a completed work and cannot be drawn on lined paper. Allowed fanart includes digital and real media (e.g., paper and pencil/inks or crayons etc). No sketches, WIP images, bases, traces, or graphics (e.g., photomanips, aesthetics/mood boards, or screen captures). Animated gifs that meet requirements are allowed. Fanart must be based on the request by their recipient and adhere to the recipient’s DNWs, or else the recipient will go out to pinch hit. Sketches may be given as treats, as long as they are for a ship and fandom the recipient requested, and do not include their DNWs


• Podfic: Participants must create a podfic of a fic of at least 1,000 words in length OR 500 words of a new story, written and then podficced. Podfics should only be made of fics where the creator has given transformative works permissions. To find a list of creators who have transformative works permissions, check out the FPS List
  


• Fanvid: Participants must create a fanvid of at least 1:00 in length. Fanvids should be themed around a request. That means taking into account the requested character(s) or relationship(s).

AO3 Emails

Make sure the email attached to your AO3 account is one that A) you check regularly, and B) are comfortable with exchange mods seeing. You can verify your email here: archiveofourown.org/users/[your ao3 name here]/change_email

FAQ

What is this exchange for?

Star Trek Holidays is a gift exchange for the Star Trek franchise, similar to Secret Santas and other fanwork gift exchanges. Anything Star Trek is included (shows, movies, books, comics, videos games).

It’s called Star Trek Holidays… does this mean the gift must involve holidays/winter/etc?

While this is a holiday fest, you are not required to ask or create for a holiday or seasonal theme unless you so desire.

What do you mean by “everyone who gives a gift gets a gift”?

This is an exchange, so everyone who creates a fanwork will receive a fanwork. There are no penalties for defaulting this round, but defaulters are not guaranteed a gift.

What kind of gifts are allowed?

Gifts must be complete. No WIPs are allowed. Gifts must have all chapters, parts, and sections posted on AO3 in completion. The requirements for gifts are that any work created must be in fulfillment of their recipients request and avoid the recipients Do Not Wants (DNWs). Gifts can be: a fic of at least 1,000 words long; a podfic of a fic of at least 1,000 words in length; a piece of completed fanart not on lined paper that has clean linework (No sketches, WIP images, bases, traces, or graphics (e.g., photomanips, aesthetics/mood boards, or screen captures); or a video of at least 2:00 in length.

Works may be any rating (taking into account DNWs). Submissions must not be a sequel, continuation, companion, or in any way related to a previously posted work or series. Do not crosspost your gifts anywhere else or reveal your recipient to anyone until after creators are revealed. Once works have been revealed, you’re welcome to post/rec wherever you’d like.

I won’t be able to create my gift. What should I do?

Please default as soon as you know you cannot complete your assignment. To default go to your Assignments page on AO3 and default there. If you default, your recipient will be sent out as a pinch hit. If you default, and your creator defaults, you will not go out as a pinch hit.

What are nominations? Why do they exist?

Nominations are when you submit through the tagset fandoms/character/relationships that you would like to create or receive a gift for. Nominations exist because we need to utilize the tagset for matching. In Star Trek Holidays, we do not use hand matching (where the mod analyzes the sign ups and matches people that way) but AO3’s built in algorithmic system that analyzes the sign ups for best fit. AO3 analyzes the sign ups based on having 1 fandom and 1 character/relationship in common.

How do nominations work?

As was established in 2020, the tagset will be an “eternal” tagset, meaning that we will be using the same tagset every year. Before nominations open, there will already be relationships and characters that have been nominated from previous years. Please check to make sure whether your nominations are in the tagset already.

Note: In the 2019 round, the only crossovers allowed were between Star Trek canons, and they were nominated under “Crossover Fandom”. These relationships will now appear under “Star Trek Crossover Fandom”, with “Crossover Fandom” being reserved for crossovers between Star Trek canons and other canons.

You can nominate a total of 10 fandoms with 20 characters/relationships.

Nominating fandoms

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) includes the TV show and any movies associated with it. Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) includes the TV show, the animated series, and any associated movies. So on and so forth for all TV shows and associated movies. Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (AOS) includes the 2009 film and its sequels. Books are counted as individual canons. Comics are individual canons. Video games are individual canons.

Crossovers should be nominated under "Star Trek Crossover Fandom" if all the characters are from a Star Trek franchise, and "Crossover Fandom" if one or more characters are not in Star Trek.

If you want original Star Trek characters, you may nominate them under any specific Star Trek fandom you’d like to see them in. For example, if you want to see “Original Female Vulcan/Original Female Klingon” set in the original series, you may nominate it there as “Original Female Vulcan/Original Female Klingon (TOS).” If you have no preference as to which series it is set in, you may nominate it under “Original Work” as “Original Female Vulcan/Original Female Klingon (OW)”. If you want an original character with one who exists in Star Trek, you may nominate the ship under the fandom that Star Trek character is from, like so: “Original Female Vulcan/Spock/Nyota Uhura (TOS)”.

Disambiguations

Please include the following abbreviations at the end of your character/relationship nominations and review the tagset for existing conventions:

• Alternate Original Series: AOS


• Deep Space Nine: DS9


• Discovery: DIS


• Enterprise: ENT


• Lower Decks: LD


• The Next Generation: TNG


• The Original Series: TOS


• Original Work: OW


• Picard: PIC


• Prodigy: PRO


• Strange New Worlds: SNW


• Voyager: VOY

For books, comics, and video games, please include the specific title.

Example: James T. Kirk & None (AOS)

Nominating characters and relationships

Nominate relationships as James T. Kirk/Spock (TOS) for romantic pairings and James T. Kirk & Spock (TOS) for gen pairings. Nominate single characters as James T. Kirk & None (TOS). These will all be nominated under the “relationships” field regardless of whether the nomination is a character or relationship.

Star Trek Crossover Fandom

"Star Trek Crossover Fandom" is the fandom under which you may nominate crossovers between Star Trek canons.

Nominate with a disambiguation, such as James T. Kirk (TOS)/Jadzia Dax (DS9), Data/Odo/Spock (STOT), or Nyota Uhura (AOS) & Nyota Uhura (TOS).

Nominate to your heart’s desire. If you specifically want Discovery era Spock to interact with James T. Kirk, then feel free to nominate James T. Kirk (TOS)/Spock (DIS) even though Spock exists in TOS.

Crossover Fandom

Crossovers with Star Trek and non-Star Trek canons will be allowed under "Crossover Fandom". As with the Star Trek crossovers, please nominate with a disambiguation for each character, like so: Evelyn Carnahan (The Mummy)/Nyota Uhura (Star Trek TOS).

Original Work Nominations

If you have a specific fandom in mind where understanding the character relies on the fandom (for example, Original Breen Anti-Uniformity Dissidents & None (Disambiguation)), then nominate under the fandom. If you would simply prefer these original characters to exist in a certain fandom, then nominate under the fandom.

If it is more general (for example, Original Cardassian Scientist/Original Romulian Scientist (OW)), then nominate under Original Work. Feel free when requesting a fic to include a specific fandom in the Optional Details, or when posting your gift fic. If you do not care what fandom the characters are in and just want the original characters in Star Trek, then nominate under Original Work.

Abbreviations are the same as the general guidelines. For Original Work, it should be OW. Example: Original Cardassian Scientist/Original Romulian Scientist (OW).

What do I need to include in my sign up?

Your sign up must include at least 1 request and offer. For your request, a description of what you like and dislike is required so your creator has an idea of what you’d like to receive. Are you more of a fluff fan, or do you prefer something dark? Would noncon or character death ruin a fic for you? You can include a list of tropes you like or prompts to let your creator know here. Or you may put "anything goes!" and nothing else in the signup if you like.

If you receive a gift that includes anything you listed as a dislike, you will go out to pinch hit as long as the dislike(s) is included in the description box. Your dislikes must be in the AO3 signup to be enforceable.

What are the minimum and maximum amount of requests I can make? What about offers?

You must request and offer a minimum of 1 Fandom and are allowed a maximum of 10, with a minimum of 1 Relationship/Character per fandom and a maximum of 20.

What are my obligations as a creator?

You must create a gift that meets the fanwork requirements for the exchange. Refer to the rules on the AO3 and DW profiles for specifics.

Can I contact my recipient to ask them questions/find out what they like?

Please don’t. This is an anonymous exchange. Do not message your recipient or contact them in any way. If you need to ask them a question, contact a mod at startrekholidays@gmail.com.

What counts as breaking anonymity?

Author notes with links to social media accounts; crossposting to tumblr, twitter, FF.net, and other sites before the creators are revealed on AO3; contacting your recipient directly; telling other people the username of your recipient; posting your fic in an AO3 series, etc.

Are treats allowed?

Yes, treats are very much welcome! The more fun, the merrier!

What are treats?

Treats are extra gifts that anyone, participant or not, can create for a participant.

Treats refer to any extra fanwork posted to the collection in addition to your own assignment. Anyone is welcome to treat for anyone else (you don't even have to be signed up for the exchange to treat), and treats do not have to meet the minimum word count requirement. To treat someone, just post to the collection and add the recipient’s name in the field for gifting. Treats must still respect DNWs.

Check out Karanguni's exchange app to view (and favorite) requests.

What are Do Not Wants (DNWs)?

These are things that you do not want to receive in a gift. DNWs are only enforceable if they are included in your sign-up DNWs & additional details box.

What is a letter?

If you want extra space or don’t feel like writing a lot in the Description box on AO3, you can link to a letter, which is posted on dreamwidth, livejournal, tumblr, or another platform of your choice, that you link to in the signup. Make sure your DNWs are in your signup as well as your letter.

How does matching work?

This exchange uses OR matching. Matching will be based on a recipient and a creator matching on 1 fandom and 1 character or relationship in the same request.

You only need to create a gift with 1 character/relationship from 1 request. You don’t need to create a gift with every single relationship/character your recipient requested. You also don’t have to stick with the request you matched on if you get inspired by another of your recipient's requests. If your recipient requested “Any,” you can create for the character/relationship you offered and matched on, or anything else for that fandom as long as it is in the tagset.

If you do not match as a recipient, you will be sent out as a pinch hit. Everyone who turns in their assignment will receive a gift. If you do not match as a creator, you will be contacted. If there is no one that you can create for after adding offers or you do not reply to the mods within 24 hours, your signup will be deleted.

What’s a pinch hit?

A pinch hit is a recipient without a gift and in need of one. Pinch hits will be posted on Dreamwidth. You can claim a pinch hit by leaving a comment with your AO3 username.