2021 Schedule and FAQ

[pumpkinkingmod]

General Links

2021 Collection
Tagset
Requests App

Schedule

Sept 1 – Nominations Open
Sept 8 – Nominations Close
Sept 11 – Sign-Ups Open
Sept 18 – Sign-Ups Close
October 24 – Assignments Due
October 31 – Gift Reveals
November 7 – Creator Reveals

Times are 23:59 UTC.

It's time for another Trick or Treat exchange! A new Pumpkin King has picked up the crown, with gratitude to the noble gourds who have served before. The FAQ has some slight changes for the spooky new reign; credit for the original remains with sirvalkyrie.

FAQ

Trick or Treat is an exchange in the style of exchanges like Yuletide or Chocolate Box. It is inspired by a real world holiday. You do not need to celebrate Halloween to participate in this exchange.

Each participant will receive at least one gift. The gift will be a trick or a treat. A trick should be more horror, occult, supernatural, or scary. A treat should be more sweet, sexy, or fluffy. These are a bit vague to give the writer/artist room for how they interpret trick or treat.





What is exchanged?

You can exchange either fic with a minimum of 300 words or a piece of artwork at the nice sketch stage. The sketch cannot be on lined paper. There is no upper limit.

Works are anonymous until creator reveals, one week after work reveals.

Why is the minimum so low?

This exchange is inspired by Halloween. On Halloween children typically get small pieces of candy from adults. Based on this it is only appropriate that a Halloween-based exchange have a lower requirement than other exchanges.

What fandoms are eligible?

There are no rarity requirements for this. Traditional fandoms, RPF, and some fanworks are eligible. You can also request Original Work and crossovers.

There are three rules for RPF:

1) Non-famous friends and family are not eligible.
2) The person in question can be removed from the tagset at the request of the individual.
3) For contemporary RPF the individuals must be over the age of 18.

While rarely invoked, PumpkinKing can choose not to accept a nomination that is in bad taste. An example of this would be Nazi RPF, modern serial killer RPF, or COVID-19 related nominations. These sorts of nominations will be rejected.

What are nominations?

Nominations is where you nominate the fandoms and characters/relationships that you are interested in receiving in this exchange. Each person can nominate ten fandoms with ten characters or relationships from each fandom.

Nominations format

Please nominate crossovers under the fandom Crossover Fandom, with ships in the format:
Ship: Yuri Plisetsky (YOI) & Rajah (Aladdin).

Please nominate original works under the fandom Original Work.

All character and ship nominations must be disambiguated. (See below for an explanation!)

Please avoid using pipes where possible and do not use diacritics/tone marks where unnecessary.

Please use the name order as in the canon ("Given Name Family Name" for most western canons, "Family Name Given Name" for most Asian canons).

For ships, please include "Ship:" in front of the pairing. You may nominate / or & ships. "A/B" is a romantic or sexual relationship; "A & B" is a platonic relationship. Please alphabetize ships by family name.

What is disambiguation?

This means adding the fandom in brackets after your nomination. Some examples:

Wei Wuxian (Modao Zushi)
Wei Wuxian (The Untamed)
Sakurayashiki Kaoru (SK8)
Leia Organa (SWOT)
Luke Skywalker (SWST)
Ship: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson (BBC Sherlock)
Ship: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson (Sherlock Holmes - ACD)
Ship: Mia Fey/Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney)
Ship: Enoshima Junko/Tsumiki Mikan (DR Hope's Peak)
Ship: Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers (Marvel 616)


What is the minimum/maximum for signing up?

You must make 3-10 requests. Each request has one fandom, 1-20 characters/relationships, and 1-4 medium/preference tags.

You must make 4-10 offers. Each offer has one fandom, 2-20 characters/relationships, and 1-4 medium/preference tags.

For offers, "Any" can be selected for characters/relationships and mediums. "Any" means any nominated character or relationship from that fandom, not any character/ship in the fandom in general. If only one character/ship is nominated for a fandom you want to offer then just select Any to make sign-ups work.

There are also four freeform tags where you can:

1) opt out of receiving extra gifts (you may still receive multiple gifts if more than one person is assigned to you)
2) allow people to ignore your medium preference for extra gifts
3) ignore your trick/treat preference for extra gifts
4) ask that your medium and trick/treat preferences be respected for extra gifts

Gifts that ignore your preference cannot become main gifts if your giver defaults. These tags are not used for matching and their use is completely optional.

You also have the option to add optional details or a link to a letter. These can be very useful to give your writer/artist ideas for possible tricks and treats. It can also be invaluable for telling them what you do not want at all. Authors/artists should respect the do not want list; however, the requester should not abuse it to try and force the author/artist into a corner.

How does matching work?

Trick or Treat uses the AO3 exchange matching algorithm, using “OR” matching. That means in order for a creator to match to a potential recipient, only ONE combination of their fandoms/characters (or ships)/trick or treat choices needs to match. The exception to this are the additional tags regarding extra treat preferences--these are not matched on.

Medium preferences are baked into the Trick and Treat tags, so they’re also matched on.


What is the mod stance on socks (multiple accounts)?

You may sign-up with two accounts. If one account is banned then all of your accounts are banned.

What if no one offers what I request?

Then you will go to the pinch hit list and someone will claim you.

What if nobody is requesting what I'm offering?

You will be contacted after sign-ups end to add offers based on what is being requested. If you don't wish to add offers, your sign-up will be deleted.

It's recommended to keep an eye on the requests summary and adjust your offers based on what is being requested.

What mediums are allowed?

Fanfic or fanart can be selected for matching purposes. Even if you only request one in your sign up form, you can give people permission to treat you the other in your letter or sign-up.

I only want a Trick or a Treat, not either. Is that okay?

Yes.

What if I can't complete my assignment?

Then please default ASAP. The sooner you do the sooner a pinch hitter can take over your assignment and make a gift. If you default then you will not go to the pinch hit list if your writer/artist defaults.

What is the Community Challenge?

Every year a challenge is given to the community. The specifics change from year to year. Last year it was a battle of the bands. To check out previous community challenges click the tag. Community challenges are revealed before sign-ups start.

Other questions? Comment on this post or email halloweenmod@gmx.com.

Comments

[pumpkinkingmod]

Thanks for asking! Tagging those things is completely up to creator preference. If you do want to tag extra gifts, "Extra Treat" instead of just "Treat" does tend to be clearer in this exchange.