ADMIN: Coming Soon -- dS Match!

[china_shop]

Special Event Challenge: dS Match is a fic challenge with a difference -- half-party, half-relay race!

There'll be two teams (Team Angst and Team Romance) and you can sign up for one or the other but not both. Each team will have a Captain who'll be in charge of coordinating team-building events, pimping the Angst or Romance, and helping the team work together to herd plot bunnies, inspire each other with random caribou stories and ear anecdotes, find beta-readers, etc.

So it's all about teamwork and friendly competition... and awesome Due South fic!

If this seems familiar, it may be because you've come across mcshep_match in SGA fandom and/or snarry_games in HP. sageness and I are planning to bring a somewhat smaller version of the same game to Due South.


A Brief Overview

Teams have 14* players, including the Team Captains.

There are 14 dialogue prompts, and each prompt is assigned to two writers -- one from each team.

Each player writes an angst fic or a romance fic from their prompt, depending on which team they're in. Note that angst fic can include elements of romance and romance fic can include elements of angst, but the overall tone of the story is what readers will be voting on. We'll explain this further when we open team sign-ups.

Stories must be at least 1000 words.

Unlike the SGA & HP challenges, dS Match will allow a variety of pairings. We'll confirm the list once we've got poll results.

Each story will be posted anonymously (by us, your friendly neighborhood mods) with a poll attached so readers can vote on a) how well it fits the genre and b) how much they enjoyed the story. (Scroll to the bottom of any fic at mcshep_match to see how that works.)

We'll also have guess-the-author posts so everyone can speculate on who wrote what. \o/

Poll results will be viewable only to us, and after the last stories are posted, we'll tally up the results, reveal all the authors, and announce which team won the most points! :D

Does this sound awesome? We think it does, and we can't wait to get this thing started! Please fill out the poll below to let us know if you want to play!

ETA: The poll is to gauge interest. You're not committing yourself to participating at this stage. :-)


*14 is a tentative number. It may change depending on responses to this poll! If this gets big, we may decide to move it to its own comm.



[Poll #1050287]


Please pimp this challenge to your flist!

Comments

[sprat.livejournal.com]

yaaaaaay!

(PS - I can do icons, but not so much banners.)

[china_shop]

YAYAYAY!

(Cool! Thanks! We'll let you know when we know what we need. /charmingly disorganised)

Once more with exclamation marks. /dork

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I would be willing to be on either team if numbers needed to be evened out.

[china_shop]

Good to know, thanks! And, heeeeee, PERFECT icon. *g*

[the_antichris.livejournal.com]

does that mean the author would never have to see the ratings on her fic? *is pathetic and angsty and DOES NOT WANT TO KNOW*

[china_shop]

It does indeed. The author need never see her ratings! *pets*

[slidellra.livejournal.com]

I could probably play for the either team if the numbers need evening.

Also, YAYYYYYYYYYYY!

[china_shop]

Good to know! Thanks! :-D

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

This sounds great!

I won't sign up because commitment fics break me in a really ugly way, but I will be thrilled to read and vote and cheerlead for Team Romance. *\o/*

[china_shop]

I understand. Yay, cheerleading! *twirls you*

[counterfeitcoin.livejournal.com]

I could do either team, but I'm still finding out about my class schedule so I'm only 85% sure I'd have the time. It depends on the due date.

[sage]

That's cool. Sign-ups won't be for a few days yet. :D

Also, if you aren't sure you can make the challenge deadline, you can still sign up to write backup fic (sort of the same as pinch-hitting, but with less pressure). There will be more on that when sign-ups happen. :)

[raggedass-road.livejournal.com]

Uh, about the deadline. How long exactly would each team get to write their fics? I ask because I joined the stop-drop-porn thing earlier this summer and totally bombed it. I just couldn't finish a whole entire fic in twenty-four hours. So, erm, I'm gunshy of signing up for quick-deadline writing events. What are we talking here, a week? A month?

[sage]

Oh, yeah, I can't do the fic in 24 hours thing, either. We're still talking about the exact amount of time to leave between prompt assignment and fic deadline, but it will definitely be a number of weeks. :)

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Go Team Angst Go!

*barely restrains a rush of flirtatious innuendo about those offering to play for both teams*

I would prefer two weeks or more, so if RL gets nuts, I can still get the fic done.

[omphale]

Please note that, for once in my life, I'm *not* thinking of playing for both teams. Weird.

[elementalv.livejournal.com]

I want to play, but I suck at romance, and my angst makes me want to hang myself, so that’s pretty much a no. However, I'll cheer on both teams from the sidelines.

[china_shop]

Aww! Yay for cheerleading, though! :-)

[akite.livejournal.com]

I didn't vote on which team I'd like to be on. I'm not sure yet. Also, 1000 words minimum? Yeah, I know it shouldn't be that hard, but it frightens me.

[china_shop]

Well, you'll probably have about 4 weeks to write it, and a whole team of people to support you and egg you on. But it's your call. :-)

[hyperfocused.livejournal.com]

I, too, am interested, but can't decide between angst or romance. (I'll pick one when it comes time to sign up, of course).

[sage]

It will be so much fun either way! :D

[spuffyduds.livejournal.com]

This sounds fun! I can't pick a team though. Somebody needs to order me which one to play on.

Oh, hush.

[sage]

*g*

Okay, look at it this way: With Angst you can have hurt/comfort, ships passing in the night, tragic woe -- and either happy endings or not. (I love my angst best with a happy ending, but I'm a sap like that.)

And with Romance you can do romantic comedy, or full-out bodice ripper, or simple casefic where they happen to be in love... So many possibilities!


See! I'm not even trying to sway you! (Because that would make China frown at me. A lot. From across oceans. :P)

[take-no-ko.livejournal.com]

Actually I'm good for either team. This sounds like an awesome idea, and I'm totally psyched now!

[brigantine.livejournal.com]

Just so you know - your nearlynakedRay icon is distracting the hell outta me, in the best possible way. ;)

[lovelokest.livejournal.com]

Angst, yay!

[china_shop]

Hee! :-)

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

Wheeee! This sounds like so much fun! And I am totally on board for Team Angst. *rubs hands* It's like, permission to write tragic!Fraser! /inappropriate squee

[dessert-first.livejournal.com]

I *knew* you'd go there!

[dragonflymuse.livejournal.com]

I can do either angst or romance, depending on if team numbers need balancing. And I can handle icons, but not so much banners.

Sounds like a lot of fun!

[china_shop]

Awesome! Yay! :-D

[kerrbear61.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! Depends on how it pans out I'm all for Team Angst. *cheerleads*
I suck at banners and icons so no help from me :(

[china_shop]

Yay! :-D

[brigantine.livejournal.com]

I'm in the mood for some fluff, so I could prokky do something for Team Romance.

In fact, I'm a-yearning to write me some crack!romance, but for some reason I can't just *do* crack!fic, I gotta get poked hard in the ribs with the Crack Stick (ow.). So this might be just the ticket. :)

[china_shop]

YAY! :-D

[mickeymvt.livejournal.com]

I could do either team, though I think I'd be more suited to romance as writing angst makes me curl up into a ball and cry. Well, not really, but you get the point.

I love the team-aspect of this.

[china_shop]

*pets hypothetical angst-writing you*

Awesome!

[ignazwisdom.livejournal.com]

I just want to say that this whole idea makes me flail like a flailing thing! Yay!

[china_shop]

YAYAYAAYE! :-D

[dirty-diana.livejournal.com]

why do i want to join i haven't written ds in years helpppppp

[sage]

Because it will be FUN!!! \o/

Come on, you know you want to! (Actually, you don't have to decide for a few days. This is just an interest poll to make sure we'd have enough people to play. The sign up posts will go up in a few days, so keep an eye on the comm!)

[utterfrivolity.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say that I love you china_shop and sageness for bringing this to DS! Because not only is it an awesome-fun format, but I am a total angstwhore and am already salivating at the thought of fourteen new angsty fics. As someone who doesn't write I won't be writing, of course, but I can't wait to feel the sweet, sweet pain.

[china_shop]

You want them to suffer?! *shakes head sadly at you* Hee!

[bertybertle.livejournal.com]

This sounds awesome, but I am pathetic and unable to cope with being voted on, so I will TOTALLY cheer, read, feedback etc ! I think you guys ROCK for managing to think up such excellent challenges and stuff. You make this fandom so spunky and fun. Kudos!

[china_shop]

Aw, but you never find out the results on your own story -- just the overall results for the two teams. That's not so scary, is it? *encourages you gently*

[tanisafan.livejournal.com]

I'm 105% sure that this is awesome, but only 75% sure that I'll have the time to write. But as soon as I'm sure I can manage it, I could be in either team if one needs evening out (although I'm a whore for the angst, so... yeah).

And a big, sparkly YAY for this!!

[china_shop]

YAYAYE! :-D

[brynnmck.livejournal.com]

YAY! Also, China: when I'm stressed about the deadline, I'm whining at you. ;)

[china_shop]

Hee! That's what I'm here for. :-)