otterandferret

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faq collection: *main faq

FAQ

What is Otter and Ferret?

Otter and Ferret is an annual Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy gift exchange. Participants submit prompts and create a 1,000+ word story tailored to one or more of another participant's prompts. Gifts are created anonymously, and then shared with the community. Authors/Artists are revealed one week after gift reveals.

Otter and Ferret Sign-Ups Announcement Mailing List - Receive an email letting you know that sign-ups are open.
Click here to sign-up with a Gmail address or Click here to sign-up with a non-Gmail address

What is the Otter and Ferret 2014 Gift Exchange schedule? (See profile for Gift Exchange, Mini-Fest, and Forever schedules)

Otter and Ferret 2014 Gift Exchange Schedule
January 15 - January 30: Sign-ups open
February 9: Assignments sent on or before this date
April 5: Default deadline
April 13: Works due
April 28: Works revealed
May 5: Authors revealed

What are Otter and Ferret Mini-Fest and Otter and Ferret Forever?
See answer.

What is required to participate in this exchange as a gift-giver and recipient?

You must have an AO3 account and sign-up before the sign-up deadline. You can request an AO3 invitation.
Once signed up, you must produce an original to the exchange, non-WIP story of at least 1,000 words which incorporates at least one of your recipient's prompts, and submit it to the Otter and Ferret collection by the submission deadline.
You must have your work remain anonymous, exclusive to the Otter and Ferret AO3 collection, and you must not reveal the name of your recipient. After author reveals, you may reveal all of the above and post your work elsewhere.
Once works are revealed and you have received your gift, you must comment on it and thank your gift giver within one week after works are revealed.

Do I have to have a Dreamwidth account?

No, a Dreamwidth account is not required. If you'd like one, you can create an account, but you don't need one to participate or follow-along.

What is required to participate in Otter and Ferret as a reader?

Absolutely nothing other than being able to click a link to the collection on AO3 at some point after the works are revealed. No stories will be locked from public view, and no age-registration is required.

What is required to participate in Otter and Ferret as a reviewer?

An email account. Comments on AO3 do not require an AO3 account, but do require leaving an email address, similar to commenting on a Wordpress blog. Kudos can be left without an email address, and Kudos left without being signed into AO3 will be registered as 'from a guest.'

If you would like an AO3 account, you can request an AO3 invitation.

If you would like to recommend a story, in the upper right-hand corner of all stories are a series of links. Click 'Share' and a box will pop up with pre-formatted HTML text, which allows you to easily copy and past all the relevant information into a post. See some of my links to Short Fiction Examples for slightly modified forms of the HTML 'Share' code.

Is constructive criticism allowed?

Courteous constructive criticism is welcome as part of Otter and Ferret, as is critical creation of fanworks.

Some General Thoughts on Critical Creation

Critical creation involves considering and aiming not to perpetrate stereotypes, tropes, and other structural injustices when creating fanwork. Racism, homophobia, and sexism are some of the things which are not welcome at Otter and Ferret. In character statements, such as Draco being racist about Muggles, are fine. Authorial statements/narration, such as stating being gay is morally wrong, are not fine.

I'd like to participate in Otter and Ferret as a pinch-hitter. What should I do?

If you'd like to pinch-hit, make sure you have an AO3 account or request one at the request post, so that you can post your finished pinch-hit to the collection.
Sign-up for the pinch-hitter mailing list.

Click here to sign-up with a Gmail address or Click here to sign-up with a non-Gmail address

If you claim a pinch-hit assignment, be sure that you can deliver it in time. While pinch-hitters can default, since life happens, and there are no penalties for pinch-hitters defaulting, it's preferable that this not occur.

Do you accept fanart?

Right now, Otter and Ferret does not accept fanart. AO3 does not currently offer fanart hosting, but once AO3 offers this service, Otter and Ferret will open to fanart. AO3 promises fanart support 'soon,' which is why references to fanart are in the FAQ.

I want to take my fanwork down from the archive/Can you delete my fanwork?

Otter and Ferret cannot delete stories, as AO3 stories are under the control of their posting author. Additionally, we sincerely request that authors do not delete or take down their stories from Archive of Our Own. While we have no ability or desire to have the authority to stop authors from doing so, we would like authors to remember that these stories are gifts to someone else, and removing an Otter and Ferret story from Archive of Our Own is akin to taking it away from the recipient.

Archive of Our Own: About Orphaning

Archive of Our Own offers an option for authors who no longer want to be associated with a story or their work to 'orphan' their works, thereby permanently disassociating the work from the author's account and attaching it to Archive of Our Own's Orphan Works account. What orphaning a work will do is remove the author's name from the work and remove the author's name from all comments the author has left on the work. Existing links and bookmarks will remain intact, allowing others to enjoy the work afterward, and works will be credited to 'Anonymous'.

We sincerely request that any authors who wish to disassociate themselves from their work do so through AO3's orphaning option, rather than permanently deleting their work from AO3.

How do I promote Otter and Ferret?

Promotion Banners

Other FAQ Resources

A Quick Guide to Using Archive of Our Own (AO3)

Otter and Ferret ebooks and Podfic

Art Resources

Writing Resources & Short Fiction Examples

Otter and Ferret Mini-Fest & Otter and Ferret Forever

Other Dramione or Dramione-Friendly Collections on AO3

Penalties and Permanent Bans

Why does Otter and Ferret look like Yuletide?

Otter and Ferret looks almost exactly like Yuletide because the mod thinks that Yuletide has come up with a very good system of rules and practices for running a fanfiction exchange. Yuletide is an annual small-fandom fanfiction exchange whose sign-ups usually start in October/November, and the mod heartily encourages people to check it out!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What is the difference between the default deadline and the works due dates?

The default deadline is a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card. In order to default, you press the default button on AO3 for the assignment. If you do this before the default deadline, there are no penalty strikes or any consequences for defaulting.

Defaulting after the default deadline (but with notification by using the AO3 button and before works are due) results in one penalty strike. Penalty strikes are explained here: http://otterandferret.dreamwidth.org/1229.html

Defaulting with no warning/usage of the AO3 default button, whereby I wake up the day after the deadline, and there is no work/an incomplete work sitting in the AO3 collection from you, results in a permanent ban from the exchange.

The works due deadline is when Otter and Ferret works are due for the exchange, if one has not previously defaulted.

I hope that was helpful! Please let me know if you have any further questions! :D

At first (and second and third read throughs), that was clear as mud. Then I read what you wrote on the link and I think I get it now.

Defaulting is failing to submit the story, like defaulting on a credit card. This date is designed to give you time to find a pinch hitter.

Works due is the actual due date for the story, and at that time, we click the "fulfill" button to submit the completed story.

Is that right? :) Sorry to be so dense! :)

"Defaulting is failing to submit the story, like defaulting on a credit card. This date is designed to give you time to find a pinch hitter.

Works due is the actual due date for the story, and at that time, we click the "fulfill" button to submit the completed story."

YES! This is exactly it! If it were a fest, there'd be no default due date, because I wouldn't be worried about finding replacements for people who had to drop out. Because it's an exchange, the 'default deadline' exists to give me enough time to get a pinch-hitter who can write and submit the story before works are due (or at the very latest, before works are revealed). :D

What about extensions...? ^_^ Are they available, if necessary, and if we offer up some blandishment to the the Mod(s)?

I have a feeling this is going to be a popular question in the coming days. ;P

Let me copy and paste the email I just sent to another participant, who also asked the same question:

"Okay, first the bad news: Since this is a single-reveal date exchange, extensions are not possible. The entire Otter and Ferret 2012 AO3 collection gets revealed on April 28th, and so every single work in the collection will be made visible. As such, I can't give permission for people to submit exchange works at a later date. In other exchanges and fests where extensions are granted, it's because there's something like a month-long posting period, and mods shuffle in works on extension at the end of the month.

The good news: There's a bit of editing/wiggle room for authors. Although works are due on April 16th, as long as there's a single completed work of at least 1,000 words, that has been tailored to the recipient's prompt(s), submitted before April 17th, you're golden. As a mod, I don't care if you edit it, revise it, re-write it, scrap it, submit a different requirement-fulfilling work (going from 100,000 words to 1,000 words, or going from 1,000 to 200,000), as long as there is continually a requirement-fulfilling work posted in that AO3 collection. :)

So, if it's helpful for your deadlines, do know that although a work is *due* by the end of April 16th, all writers have through April 17th to April 27th to poke at, prod or otherwise edit their work, if they so choose. Naturally, such editing would hopefully be done before I do the reveal on April 28th, because one might otherwise get caught with one's authorial pants down!

The other submission options! If one needs to default, there's also Otter and Ferret Mini-Fest and Otter and Ferret Forever. I just wrote up the submission and default instructions on the community, as well as a description of how one might use these alternate submission collections:

http://otterandferret.dreamwidth.org/5628.html

Please let me know if you have any further questions!"

I hope you find that helpful! :)

So as long as SOMETHING is uploaded on the 16th, I could, in theory, keep re-uploading newer versions up to the 27th? Do I have that right? Is so, so much weight has been lifted!

Yes, re-uploading newer versions is absolutely allowed! Not a tactic I suggest for everyone as the main plan, due to possible high levels of stress, but it's totally allowed! :)

Going to copy and paste my newest response to the other participant, as you both asked the same question! :)

Regarding the "So as long as SOMETHING is uploaded on the 16th, I could, in theory, keep re-uploading newer versions up to the 27th," you are mostly correct!

"The 'mostly' is just due the fact that while you can submit what you have on the 16th, it must be a complete story. So, that what that means from my end is that if you were theoretically run over by a bus sometime between April 16th and April 28th, what you'd have posted would be perfectly fine for the exchange. So, in the case of a longer work, tactics I'd suggest would be excising and posting a scene that would work as its own short story or posting an edited down version of the work.

Example of posting a scene: Find a scene which would make you go 'oh, what an interesting/cool/entertaining short fic/idea' and just submit that, using your best judgement. Because of the nature of fanfic and having a shared background canon knowledge between author and reader, single scenes from a larger fic can often stand on their own.

Example of edited down version: Story has plans for scenes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Scenes 1, 3 and 5 are critical scenes and finished. Post scenes 1, 3, and 5, which do read like an entire story, and continue to polish the unfinished scenes 2 and 4.

If these suggestions don't fit your writing process at all, then defaulting would be an option. Even though it's now after the default deadline, even in the absolutely worst case scenario of having to hit the default button on April 16th itself, as long as you use the default button, it's just one penalty strike. As soon as anyone hits the default button, they no longer have to stress about their recipient, because I will absolutely make sure that your recipient does receive something. I don't want people to feel overly stressed by the process. :)"

Let me know if you have further questions!

A-ha! Just the info I was looking for. Mine is finished, I just need to do some editing/polishing. Will have it posted tomorrow, er, later today. :D

xfsista

Glad you found the answer you were looking for! :)

I was just wondering if we put up what prompts we were given so those reading the story would know if it is there's or not, and also so others can see how I had created a story through that prompt?

Also, since I submitted prompts, does that mean that someone at least has those prompts as well- to make a story out of the 4/5 I gave? Since I would really love to see if they took on the more challenging ones I gave instead of the easy scenario type one :P :)

There are two stages at which prompt reveals are okay!

For your submitted prompts: You can reveal these at any time! Your gift-creator has these as well and will have made a story out of at least one of the prompts. Revealing these won't break any kind of anonymity, since your gift-creator already knows who you are.

For the prompts that you were given: You cannot reveal these prompts anywhere linked to your name until after author reveals on May 5th. Your gift-receiver has no idea who you are, but they will definitely recognize their own prompts, and so linking your name to their prompts would reveal that you are the author of their gift.

Practically speaking, that means:

You can't post the prompts that you were given on your journal or blog, or in the Shoutbox at Hawthorn & Vine, or on a message board.

You can put the prompt that you used in the 'Notes' on the story that you write for the exchange. When you're posting your story to the AO3 collection, look closely at the 'Preface' section. There's a section for 'Notes' and two check boxes: one for 'at the beginning' and one for 'at the end'. If you check off one or both of those boxes, a text box will appear.

If you'd like to include notes for every reader, such as the prompt that you used, that would be a good place to put them.

Let me know if you have any further questions! :)

This isn't a question, I just wanted to drop in and say that I'm definitely definitely posting my fic today I'm just such a last-minute-editing kind of person and I didn't want anyone to worry. :3

Oh, thank you for the notice!

(And on a side-note, the absolute prettiness of Bradley James distracts me every time I see one of your comments. That boy is just too damn pretty. XD)

Right?! He's distracting me right now. Damn him. XD He should be illegal.

Definitely at least a restricted substance! XD

Hahahha definitely. (And I think I'm about to overdose soon. Tumblr is a dangerous place XD)

I don't have a question. Just wanted to say how pumped I am for this exchange! Can't wait for the 28th and then for the May 5th reveal! I have a feeling we're in for some real treats!

Yay! :D

Oh, and I have to say... I think Tom Felton in my icon pic (from his new film, "Labyrinth") definitely gives Bradley James a run for his (incredibly handsome and dashing in a suit of mail, sword-wielding) money!

That reminds me of the vague ideas over in

dramione about wanting some Dramione-centric cross-over fests!

See my reply there! Or I can just say it again here, actually. lol

I absolutely love the idea of a fairy tale/myth/folklore-based Big Bang for Dramione! I've already written several fairy tale remixes. Fantastic premise. It allows us to tap into such a lot of primal, classic lit.

H&V has already done their Reverse Challenge a couple of summers ago, wherein writers were assigned a piece of art to then create a fic from. It was tremendous fun, and we got a lot of amazing fics out of it, not to mention wonderfully inspirational art.

That pic of Tom from "Labyrinth" would certainly inspire. in fact, I've already got some vague ideas along those lines. :-)

Oh man. Maybe....maybe one day, once AO3 does art hosting, I'll poke the dramione community and see who wants to have a reverse big bang. Clearly, I do not run enough fests/exchanges yet! XD

I was excited when AO3 made that announcement in 2011 but am no longer holding my breath. While I really want them to do it I can see why it might not be a priority.

Someday, someday, someday! I'm still hoping, but like you, I've stopped thinking 'oh, it'll be this year'. D:

Oh my gosh, I feel like crying tears of blood. I had written 30,000 for the forever challenge on my phone...and yesterday I had to reset my phone... And I thought I had backed everything up...but I hadn't... And now I only have 10,000... There are not enough words in the English language to express how blergh I feel. Argh.

Sorry, I just randomly plodded this in. T_T)~

~hellopanda

Oh my gosh, that sucks so much! I'm so sorry to hear about your fic loss. I don't even have the words to say how much that would cause me to break down into tears. D:

I hope you are feeling better, and please don't feel pressured to re-write everything if you can't bring yourself to. I don't want you to at all feel like this fic is going to destroy your soul! (Although, I could totally understand the impulse to destroy your phone after that incident. D:)

I didn't see this question in there, unless I missed it, but what are pinch-hitters?

Liz
aka
alina290 at LJ

That's a good question, so here's a good answer! :)

http://fanlore.org/wiki/Pinch-hitting

Hi, I'm not new to Dramione, but I am new to this kind of thing, I mean I knew of fic exchanges and all that but I was never introduced to this kind of thing. So I don't have an account on here or AO3, but I am interested in this I just don't know if I can...

If you're interested in participating in the exchange, and feel that you can meet the requirements, feel free to ask for an AO3 invite! First-timers to exchanges are absolutely welcome to participate. :)

I'm confused about the sign up, specifically on the OFFER part. Am I supposed to come up with three to four prompts ***I*** want to write? Or was that accidentally carried over from the REQUEST area?

Edited 2013-01-29 17:11 (UTC)

Oh sweet @#$@#$. I can't believe I missed that. >_<

It's been updated to what it should have been, namely "Optional: Anything you'd like the mod to know about your writing preferences/tastes? Strengths, weakness, things you will not write?"

Thank you for pointing that out!

Thanks for clearing that up, I was so confused! :)

Hi,

I'm already done with my fic. How do I send it to you?

You will actually self-submit your fic to AO3. In response to your comment, submission instructions have just been posted here: http://otterandferret.dreamwidth.org/22281.html

:)

Is there going to be an Otter & Ferret Fic Exchange in 2015? People on Tumblr are asking us at dramioneasks.tumblr.com (we're a fic rec & reference site for Dramione) and we want to know how to answer their asks.

Hey there! :)

I'll work this weekend on finding someone to hand the exchange over to. Unfortunately, Real Life (TM) events went a little haywire last year, so I'm a bit burned out. However, since your comment let me know people are still attached to the exchange, I will try to find someone to continue to it. :)

I'd be willing to HELP someone run the fest!

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