Announcing Dark Agenda's Kaleidoscope Fanwork Exchange

[dark_administrator]

Hello doers of darkness -- your dark_agenda team has been in discussion for several months now about the possibility of running a chromatic fanwork exchange challenge. We had contacted Archive of Our Own (AO3) earlier this year about the possibility of hosting the challenge on the archive and whether it had or will have the infrastructure to support a multimedia international-source exchange challenge. Their Accessibility, Design & Technology committee was very receptive about the type of technical support we would need in order to host our challenge on the archive and after our latest chat with them, we felt like we were able to proceed to the next step of our preparations: writing out our policies and procedures!

There's still quite a lot we need to set up (as evidenced in our two drafts below) before the challenge can get off the ground, like needing to develop and code a web interface for a nominations (and a dispute) form in the event that a public nomination form by the AO3 isn't completed by the time-frame we'd in mind and researching and working out a rarity policy. All of which to say that the schedule we are proposing could be pushed significantly back due to our technical needs.

However, most of the setting up we need to do is dependent on our policies and procedures and for those, we'd like your feedback before moving ahead. Below are two rough drafts we've prepared: 1) an announcement outlining our proposed schedule, rules and guidelines and 2) a FAQs post answering some questions we think someone will have about our challenge. We would love to hear your thoughts and any suggestions you may have on them, e.g. whether our proposed policies and procedures are clear and seem workable or whether we could simplify them and how.

Here are some specific issues on which we'd like feedback and suggestions:

• Wording: we tried to be as inclusive as possible and to ground our writing to a diverse chromatic audience, but we know we didn't always succeed and could do better. Please let us know how we could improve in terms of wording or inclusion in order to be more inclusive and explicitly welcoming to all chromatic fans.


• Rarity: as we've said, we still need to work out the details for a rarity policy. Currently, we're collecting statistics on the number of fanwork distributions for relevant fandoms to determine the most optimal cutoff for rarity -- you can see the data we've collected so far for fanfiction here -- but we're considering a policy where a fandom is considered rare if it meets all the following criteria:
  
  1. has less than 1,000 English-language stories and 100 (in any languages) vids -- artworks to be determined;
     
  2. must not have a dedicated fandom-specific challenge that has run annually for more than two years in a row;
     
  3. and also must not have a dedicated fandom-specific archive or community that has more than 1,000 fanworks.
  What are your thoughts about this policy? Or how to better collect data on fanwork distributions? Or even if you'd like to help us collect data, let us know.


• Artwork: our definition for this current challenge is traditional arts & crafts and digital painting & drawing as outlined in this guide to fanart terminology due to administrative reasons, but we are willing to consider expanding it to other media either in this current challenge or later challenges. What are your thoughts on this policy?


• Forms: we've created mock-ups of a nomination and a dispute form which are linked in our announcement draft. They are currently hosted on Google Docs, but like we've said, we'll be coding a web interface for these forms so there will be some changes. Still, is there anything we need to clarify or add for these forms?
  
  As for the sign-up form, it will be done through AO3. We're still not quite sure in what structure it will take because there will be a few features we'd like to be added to the current sign-up template that AO3 has and AO3's Accessibility, Design & Technology is still, we believe, working on it.


• FAQs: answers to FAQs should be simple and concise, but we're not sure if we achieved that. What can we do to simplify the answers? What else do we need to add? Note that we haven't written a few of the answers because the information we need in order to answer them is still forthcoming.

In addition, if there are any logistical issues that come to mind regarding the multimedia nature of this exchange, please let us know. Thank you for your feedback and suggestions!

---

Kaleidoscope Fanwork Exchange's Official Announcement, Policies and Procedures

Hello and welcome to dark_agenda's Kaleidoscope, a multimedia fanwork exchange for rare chromatic source fandoms.

For this current challenge, we are defining chromatic sources to be sources with chromatic characters or people and by chromatic creators. We use the term "chromatic" as an umbrella definition for "person of color", "non-white", "multiracial", "indigenous", "sourcelander", "hyphenate", "diasporian", etc.; while we acknowledge that it has shortcomings. Similarly, we accept that there is a certain flattening in our "white/Western/other" terminology.

Kaleidoscope is open to all sources with chromatic characters or people and by chromatic creators, from animations to books & literature to folklore & mythology to movies to music to real people to sequential art to theater to TV shows to video games and including anime/manga/manhua/manhwa, Bollywood, C-Pop/K-Pop/J-Pop, fantaserye/telefantasya, komiks, lakorns, Nollywood, telenovela, tokusatsu and wuxia to name a few commonly known and region-specific genre terms. We welcome artworks, stories, vids and potentially other types of fanworks.

Our criteria for rarity is [RARITY POLICY TO BE DETERMINED].

Our proposed schedule is:

Preparations & promotions: June 11th-July 9th
Nominations period: July 9th-23rd
Dispute period: July 23rd-30th
Sign-ups: July 30th-August 13th
Assignments period: August 13th-Sept. 26th
Kaleidoscope treats: Sept. 26th-Oct. 2nd
Reveal period: Oct. 2nd-8th

Much of our format and policies are heavily influenced by other exchange challenges, including festivids, white_lotus and yuletide, and some of our policies are directly lifted from these challenges' own guidelines.

1. Preparations & promotions: 2011 June 11 to July 09, Pacific Time (U.S.A.).
   
   To increase participation and representation, we're hoping to host a four-week fest where we invite everyone to promote rare chromatic sources by making posts such as primers, picspams, manifestos, meta, resource lists, etc. Moreover, we will start weekly discussions with a focus on intersectionality and international representation and where we specifically invite people to, for example, promote qualified fandoms involving chromatic characters with other mis- and underrepresented identities (e.g. dis/ability, class, GLBTQI, religious identity, etc.) or qualified sources from mis- and underrepresented regions such as Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, etc.
   
   We would also like to use this time to organize and solicit your help in actively promoting our challenge and increasing its visibility in various existing and emerging fannish communities of which you may be part as well as fielding and resolving any questions and concerns that may arise.
   
   Regarding promoting Kaleidoscope, we're thinking about organizing a graphics challenge to generate banners and icons for us and other fans to use in promoting and discussing the challenge. If you're a graphic artist, we would love your submissions and help!


2. Nominations period: 2011 July 9 to July 23, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.).
   
   For nominations, each participant may nominate up to three (3) fandoms and from each fandom, up to 10 characters or persons to be included in a list of official Kaleidoscope fandoms, characters and people that participants may offer/request using [MOCK-UP OF NOMINATIONS FORM].
   
   The fandom must be from a source that a) contains chromatic characters or people, b) is produced by chromatic creators and c) meets our rarity policy, i.e. [INSERT RARITY POLICY]. The characters or persons nominated must, obviously, also identify or be coded in cases of fictional characters as a character or person of color, multiracial, non-white, etc.
   
   In addition, though you do not have to commit to participating Kaleidoscope in order to nominate, we ask -- because of the scope of our challenge -- that you nominate only if you're contemplating signing up to avoid an unwieldy list of fandoms, characters and people.


3. Dispute period: 2011 July 23 to July 30, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.).
   
   After nominations we will generate a list of potential Kaleidoscope fandoms, characters and people. From the list, people may dispute whether a fandom nominated for Kaleidoscope should be included in the challenge based on the criteria for rarity (i.e. fandom contains more than [INSERT RARITY POLICY]), and/or other criteria (i.e. fandom source was not produced by chromatic creators or does not contain chromatic characters or people), using [MOCK-UP OF NOMINATIONS DISPUTE FORM]. For issues concerning rarity, verifiable evidence must be cited (e.g. links to Anime Music Videos .Org, AsianFanfics, deviantArt, FanFiction.Net, pixiv, YouTube, etc. searches).
   
   Additionally, people may also use this form to dispute a nominated character or person's inclusion in Kaleidoscope because the character or person is not chromatic, e.g. they do not identify -- or in the case of fictional characters, are not coded -- as a character or person of color, multiracial, non-white, etc.
   
   Furthermore, we'll be opening the list for corrections, e.g. misspelled titles or names, duplicated fandoms, characters or persons, etc. The final list of nominated fandoms and characters will be based on this dispute and correction process and if the situation requires, we will exercise our own discretion regarding the final list.


4. Sign-ups: 2011 July 30 to August 13, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.).
   
   Sign-ups will be done through Archive of Our Own (AO3) and on the (not yet live) sign-up form, each participant must request three (3) distinct fandoms from the final list of nominated fandoms and specify whether they would like to receive artworks, stories, vids or some combination of. Each participant must offer at least three (3) distinct fandoms from the final list of nominated fandoms, but they may offer more -- as many as they are comfortable with -- and they must specify whether they are offering to create artworks, stories, vids or some combination thereof.
   
   Each participant will be matched to a recipient who has requested at least one (1) fandom and one (1) fanwork type that they, the participant, have offered. The participant may choose any of the recipient's three (3) fandom requests to produce a fanwork for the recipient. The fanwork, however, must be one of the media (i.e. artwork, stories or vids) that the recipient requested and be centered around at least one (1) chromatic character or person.
   
   
   • Archive of Our Own: Since sign-ups (as well as assignments and submissions) will be done through AO3, participants will need an AO3 account to sign-up and further participate in Kaleidoscope. We apologize for the inconvenience that this causes, but AO3 allows us to easily manage sign-ups, matching, and submissions, and for a challenge of our scope, this was an important factor for us to consider. We thank you for your patience regarding this matter and we are also thankful for AO3's Accessibility, Design & Technology committee and its team of coders for working with us and helping us meet some of the technical needs of Kaleidoscope.
     
     Participants may request an AO3 invite here, but dark_agenda will organize an AO3 invite code fest beforehand where anyone with extra invite codes could share them with participants who will need one and so on. Hopefully, this will make sure anyone who's interested in participating in Kaleidoscope but who doesn't have an AO3 account will be able to obtain one easily.
     
     In addition, AO3 has provided a tutorial on signing-up for a gift exchange here. We'll try to write up a Kaleidoscope-specific tutorial as sign-ups approach.
   
   
   • Requests: For each fandom requested, there will be sections where participants may add optional metadata and other details such as specific character requests, fanwork preferences or other prompts to act as a starting point for their assigned participants. Or they may, for example, use this opportunity to indicate whether they are okay with their fanwork containing non-English languages or codeswitching.
     
     Many exchange participants find this information helpful when brainstorming for ideas on what to create for their recipient as well as what to avoid. However, this information is completely optional for both parties to fill or fulfill. The assigned participant is not obligated to follow any of the requests, suggestions, etc. noted in their recipient's metadata and other details -- only on fandoms requested.
     
     The optional other details section will be in free-text and when writing it, please consider your possible audience which is very diverse. Listing preferences are fine, e.g. "I prefer gen to [het, femslash/slash/yaoi/yuri/etc. or poly] fanworks", "I identify with my characters more if they are coded as androgynous or if their gender identity is flexible or neutral", "I don't like character x or pairing y much", "I'd prefer not reading about kink z", etc. However, language that shames or bashes someone's fanwork preferences, e.g. "[het/femslash/slash/yaoi/yuri/poly/etc.] fanworks are gross", "anyone who creates or consumes fanworks about character x or pairing y is wrong", "I don't know who would like kink z, it's disgusting", etc., or that Others someone's identit(ies), e.g. "Asian people are so androgynous!", etc., is unacceptable.
     
     dark_agenda was founded to provide a place where fans, especially chromatic fans, can and are encouraged to critically produce, consume and discuss fanworks centered around chromatic cultures and characters so the last advice is doubly important. Please assume your assigned participant or recipient or readers will be (other) chromatic fans -- with many other identities besides.
     
     
   • Dear Doers of Darkness letters: "Dear doers of darkness" letters are like an extension of the optional details section, but posted to the participants' own journaling account. Many exchange participants like to record and share what they requested and a "Dear doers of darkness" letter is one method to do so. The letter also allows participants to further expand on their requests and to offer their assigned person more information, such as how to find resources on the fandoms they requested. Keep in mind that access and affordability of particular source materials vary from region to region and household to household.
     
     A "Dear doers of darkness" letter is entirely optional for both parties: participants do not have to make a "Dear doers of darkness" letter, they may make one before sign-ups and include a link to it in the sign-up form, or they may make one after sign-ups end and assignments are sent; and their assigned person does not have to follow anything noted in the letter -- only for the officially requested fandoms.
     
     We'll make an official "Dear doers of darkness" post to the community soon after assignments go out, where participants may comment with a link to their letter so there will be a central place to search for these letters.
   
   Any participants who need more information on their assigned recipient and/or their requests may contact us at darkadmn AT gmail DOT com and we'll act as an intermediary for you.


5. Assignment period: 2011 August 13 to September. 26, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.).
   
   Assignments will be sent as soon as it is feasible after the sign-ups period ends. Participants will be matched to a recipient who has requested at least one (1) fandom and one (1) fanwork type (artworks, stories or vids) that they, the participants, have offered. Please let us know if there was an error in the above matching once you receive your assignment!
   
   Assignments will be due on 2011 September 26, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.). The last day to default without penalty is 2011 September 12 for assignments that only include artwork and vid requests and September 19, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.) for assignments that include story requests.
   
   
   • Fanwork requirements: Fanwork must be a) from one of the three fandoms and b) in one of the media, i.e. artworks, stories or vids, your assigned recipient requested as well as c) be centered around at least one (1) chromatic character or person. It must be d) a minimum of 1,000 words for stories, 1:00 minute for vids and completed pieces for artworks, e.g. not initial brainstorming or preliminary sketches.
   
   
   • Beta-ing: We believe in the importance of responsibly portraying chromatic characters and cultures and so we encourage participants to seek not only a fandom and/or writing beta for their fanwork, but also a cultural one. To that end, we will make a beta resource post similar to those we made for other challenges to help participants find a beta that fits their needs and where anyone may offer their beta services for a particular fandom or culture, ethnicity, language, religion or other identity.
     
     Along with a beta resources post, we're in process of setting up Chromatic Beta (not a live link), a mailing list centered around chromatic sources where anyone can offer or request beta services for a particular fandom or culture, ethnicity, language, religion or other identity. The mailing list is not specific to Kaleidoscope, but hopefully, it will allow participants more options in finding a beta while maintaining anonymity.
   
   
   • Check-ins: Participants will have a little more than one month and a half to work on their assignment. We'll be doing periodic, but informal check of everyone's status as the submission deadline approaches. These informal check-ins will probably be in the form of reminder posts in combination with hosted Kaleidoscope chats, where anyone can join and chat with other fans about the challenge or whatever, and cheerleading posts where anyone can comment and cheer on Kaleidoscope participants.
   
   
   • Defaulting: Participants who signed-up for Kaleidoscope but are later unable to complete their assignment for any reason may default -- or drop out -- from the challenge here (not a live link).
     
     If you've decided to drop out from the challenge, please, please use this method to let us know -- no reasons need to be given -- so we can find a pinch-hitter for your recipient as quickly as possible and make sure they receive a fanwork by go-live. No penalty will be incurred through this method if for artworks and vids, it is done by 2011 September 12, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.). For stories, it must be done by 2011 September 19, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.). That is, if your recipient only requested artworks and/or vids, you must default by September 12 to avoid any possible penalties. If your recipient's requests included stories, then you'll have up to September 19 to default without penalty.
     
     After September 12 or 19, we'll probably ask participants to complete their assignment before any future Kaleidoscope challenges we may hold if they're interested in participating again. However, any participants who dropped out without letting us know through this defaulting method may be banned from future challenges.
   
   
   • Submissions: Fanworks must be submitted to Kaleidoscope's AO3 collection (not a live link) by 2011 September 26, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.).
     
     AO3 has written a tutorial for posting stories to a challenge here.
     
     For artworks and vids:
     
     • Hosting: AO3 does not currently support image or video hosting, but they do support image and video embedding. Thus, participants have a choice of either creating a fake unidentifiable account (at 4shared, blip.tv, Dailymotion, Metacafe, Viddler, vimeo or YouTube, AO3's current list of supported sites for video hosting) for uploading and posting their fanwork to Kaleidoscope's AO3 collection or using a Photobucket or YouTube account we've set up for Kaleidoscope participants and whose access information will be sent with your assignment.
       
       Please create an unsigned anonymous version -- or one with a Kaleidoscope watermark -- of your artwork or vid to be posted for go-live up to reveal. After creators are revealed, you may then replace the unsigned or Kaleidoscope watermark version with a signed one.
     
     
     • Content notes: Because artworks and vids are not yet structurally supported on AO3, there is really no standard content notes or warning system for artworks and vids in place. Therefore, we ask participants to provide some content notes for their fanwork.
       
       In the case of vids, please provide one or more of the following content notes in combination with AO3's archive tags for:
       
       • Sexual violence
         
       • Physical triggers (e.g. effects that commonly trigger epilepsy or migraines such as strobe lights, bright lights, "stuttery" cuts between 2-3 stills, etc.)
       Along with other notes you think would apply or like to indicate, e.g. suicide, self-harm, etc. If none of these content notes apply, either select AO3's "none of these warnings apply" archive tag (but only if there's no graphic depictions of violence, major character death, rape/non-con or underage) or indicate that "no Kaleidoscope standardized notes apply".
       
       Similarly, if you prefer not to give content notes, please select AO3's "choose not to use archive warnings" archive tag.
     
     
     • Captions: Visual and audio content, especially those hosted on the Internet, often presents an accessibility issue for a significant number of us, not just those of us with visual and/or hearing impairments. For example, videos with English-language audio, for example, can pose a problem for some non-native English speakers and closed caption provides a helpful tool for them in processing what is being said.
       
       Thus, we ask participants to consider providing some type of captioning for their fanwork if possible. For artwork, it could be a brief description or a transcript like those shown in these two comics: An ordinary afternoon and within the walls.
       
       For vids, there are several tutorials on how to provide subtitles: How to add subtitles and translations to your vids and Tutorial: Subtitling vids for the WisCon Vid Party singalong show. YouTube offers several options for adding captions to videos and these captions can be turned on or off by individual watchers.
     
     As with sign-ups, we'll try to provide a Kaleidoscope-specific tutorial for uploading and posting fanworks to Kaleidoscope's AO3 collection.
   
   
   • Pinch Hits: When a participant defaults, we'll need a volunteer to take over the defaulter's assignment and that's where pinch hitters step in. Pinch hits will go out as soon as we receive the first default notice via our mailing list (not a live link), which anyone can join. You do not need to be signed up for Kaleidoscope yourself in order to pinch hit!
     
     Claims are first come first served -- the first person to respond to an email detailing a pinch hit will be assigned to it. The deadline for pinch hits sent out before the defaulting deadlines will remain September 26, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.); however, the deadline for pinch hits sent out after the defaulting deadlines will be October 2. In other words, for pinch hit assignments including only artwork and/or vid requests sent before September 12 and assignments including story requests sent before September 19, the deadline will be September 26. For pinch hit assignments including only artwork and/or vid requests sent after September 12 and assignments including story requests sent after September 19, the deadline will be October 2.
     
     There is no limitation to how many pinch hits one may claim, but keep in mind that the fanwork requirements are the same as the requirements for the initial assignments: a minimum of 1,000 words for stories, 1:00 minute for vids, and completed pieces for artwork (e.g. not initial brainstorming or preliminary sketches).


6. Kaleidoscope treats: 2011 September 26 to October 02, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.).
   
   To ensure that all of our participants have at least one gift in the exchange, a list of Kaleidoscope prompts will be made available for treats on September 26. Treats are "extra" fanworks (not a replacement for assigned fanworks) someone has decided to make based on a participant's requests as outlined in this list of prompts and/or in their Dear Doer of Darkness letter.
   
   The list of prompts is free for any and multiple claims. There is no need to let us know that you are creating a treat -- we will set up a subcollection on AO3 and you can simply submit your fanworks there. There are no minimum fanwork requirements for treats, and you do not have to be signed up for Kaleidoscope to create treats. In fact, treats can be worked on as soon the first Dear Doer of Darkness letter is posted if there's a request that catches your eye.
   
   In our announcement post for Kaleidoscope treats, as a thank you, we will also open comments for prompting from our non-participant pinch hitters and encourage everyone to check if they can possibly fill any of these requests as treats.
   
   The deadline for Kaleidoscope treats will be 2011 October 02, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.). The treat subcollection will go live sometime after the regular collection.


7. Reveal period: 2011 October 02 to October 08, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.).
   
   Fanworks for Kaleidoscope will go live anonymously sometime on 2011 October 02 (Gandhi's birthday) depending on pinch hitting needs & submissions. Creators will be revealed on October 08.
   
   
   • Away Message: For participants who know that they will not be present around the period Kaleidoscope is going live, please consider making a post in your journaling account to let your assigned participant know that you may not be able to access your intended fanwork until a later date so they will not worry excessively.
   
   
   • Feedback: Statistically and on average, fanworks for rare sources yield fewer comments and little visibility outside their own fandoms. In most cases you will receive love and enthusiasm from people for creating one of the few fanworks for their rare fandom or about their character, but please be aware that you might not receive the public response for which you're hoping.
     
     Keep in mind also that everyone interacts with fandom differently and direct interactions like commenting can be emotionally and mentally fraught for some of us to engage in frequently.
   
   
   • Pre-reveal: We want to use the one week period between go-live and reveals as an opportunity to encourage reading, viewing and discussions of Kaleidoscope fanworks. To that end, we will make a recs and "guess the creator" post where everyone is encouraged to rec Kaleidoscope fanworks and guess who created which fanwork, respectively. In addition, we'll try to organize a central masterlist of all fanworks submitted for Kaleidoscope for easier reference.

Some final notes: although we want everyone to join our challenge, we understand that Kaleidoscope is not for everyone. There are many reasons why someone might be tentative about signing-up for Kaleidoscope, the most common one probably being the unpredictable nature of exchange challenges.

Signing up for an exchange challenge means being randomly assigned to create a fanwork for a possible stranger and receiving a fanwork from another possible stranger, both of whom might have preferences and point of views completely different from yours.

Then there are Kaleidoscope treats to consider. Because it is open to anyone for claiming, there is a chance that two or more persons will be working on a fanwork for the same recipient, possibly even the same request. Thus, please, please be sure you are completely okay with the unpredictable nature of exchange challenges and Kaleidoscope in particular before signing-up.

Having said all that, we do hope you will join us and have fun while doing so! We are so excited to be running Kaleidoscope!

Questions or concerns can be directed here, via PMs to dark_administrator, or to our e-mail: darkadmn AT gmail DOT com. Be sure also to read our Frequently Asked Questions for Kaleidoscope (not a live link)!

Your moderators,
dharmavati, glass_icarus, troisroyaumes and wistfuljane

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Kaleidoscope's Frequently Asked Questions

What is dark_agenda?

dark_agenda was founded as a place to provide resources in order to increase representation of international, non-English language and non-Western sources in multifandom fanwork challenges as well as to promote the responsible portrayal of chromatic characters.

dark_agenda seeks to provide a place where fans, especially chromatic fans, can and are encouraged to critically produce, consume and discuss fanworks centered around chromatic cultures and characters.

What does chromatic mean?

We use the term “chromatic” as an umbrella definition for "person of color", "non-white", "multiracial", "indigenous", "sourcelander", "hyphenate", "diasporian", etc.; while we acknowledge that it has shortcomings. Similarly, we accept that there is a certain flattening in our “white/Western/other” terminology.

Why is dark_agenda running Kaleidoscope?

There are several reasons dark_agenda is running Kaleidoscope: one among them is to promote chromatic sources and characters and another is because we want an exchange challenge dedicated to chromatic fandoms.

What is Kaleidoscope?

Kaleidoscope is a multimedia fanwork exchange for rare fandoms containing chromatic characters or people and produced by chromatic creators.

How will Kaleidoscope work?

Each participant has an opportunity to nominate up to three (3) fandoms and from each fandom, up to ten (10) characters or people to be included in Kaleidoscope. From a list of fandoms, characters and people nominated, the participant must requested three (3) distinct fandoms and specify whether they are willing to receive artworks, stories and/or vids; they may also include optional specific character requests and prompts.

The participant must also offer at least three (3) or more distinct fandoms for which they are willing to create a fanwork and specify whether they are willing to create artworks, stories and/or vids. Then the participant is matched to someone who requested at least one (1) fandom and one (1) fanwork type, i.e. artworks, stories or vids, that they, the participant, did.

Once the participant has received an assignment, they must create a fanwork a) from one of the three fandoms and b) in one of the media, i.e. artworks, stories or vids, their assigned recipient requested. The fanwork must also c) be centered around at least one (1) chromatic character or person and d) be a minimum of 1,000 words for stories, 1:00 minute for vids and completed pieces for artworks, e.g. not initial brainstorming or preliminary sketches.

Who can participate in Kaleidoscope?

Anyone who is interested can participate in Kaleidoscope.

What fandom will be considered eligible for Kaleidoscope?

For this current challenge, we are only allowing rare fandoms whose source contains both chromatic characters and chromatic creators. That is, (a) chromatic person(s) must be credited as the source's creator(s) or in cases like movies, for example, the director(s) and screenwriter(s). If a source contains multi-creators and not all of them are chromatic, the fandom would still qualify for Kaleidoscope if there is at least one (1) chromatic creator. For fandoms involving real people, the chromatic creator criterion does not apply.

For future challenges, we may extend our scope to include rare fandoms with chromatic characters, but not by chromatic creators. That consideration, though, is dependant on a couple of factors, some technical and logistical.

How will rarity be determined?

[POLICY FORTHCOMING]

What type of fanworks will be allowed?

Kaleidoscope welcomes artworks, stories and vids. For the purposes of this current challenge, we are limiting artworks to traditional art & craft and digital painting & drawing as outlined in this guide to fanart terminology, but we are willing to consider opening the challenge to other mediums and/or fanwork types.

Vids may be AMVs, compilations, fanvids, songvids or fan-made MVs, but excluding slide shows -- or simply a series of photographs set to music.

What are the requirements for fanworks?

Fanworks must be centered around at least one (1) chromatic character or person and it must be a minimum of 1,000 words for stories, 1:00 minute for vids and completed pieces for artworks, e.g. not initial brainstorming or preliminary sketches.

What are the deadlines?

All time will be in Pacific Time (U.S.A.), but:

• Nominations will be open for two weeks and will close at 9 p.m. on 2011 July 23.
  
• Sign-ups will also be open for two weeks and will close at 9 p.m. on 2011 August 13.
  
• Assignments will be due 9 p.m., 2011 September 26.
  
• For assignments that only include artwork and vid requests, the last day to default without penalty will be 9 p.m., 2011 September 12; for assignments that include story requests, 9 p.m., September 19.
  
• Pinch-hit assignments made before defaulting deadlines will be due 9 p.m., 2011 September 26, and assignments made after the defaulting deadlines will be due 9 p.m. October 02.
  
• Treats will be due on 9 p.m., 2011 October 02.

How do I nominate a fandom?

Nominations may be made through this form (not a live link). Up to three (3) fandoms and for each fandom, up to 10 characters or persons may be nominated. The fandom must be from a source that (a) contains chromatic characters or people, (b) is produced by chromatic creators and (c) meets our rarity policy, i.e. [INSERT RARITY POLICY]. For characters and people, they must, obviously, identify or be coded in cases of fictional characters as chromatic.

How do I dispute a fandom's eligibility for Kaleidoscope?

Inclusion of a specific nominated fandom, character or person in Kaleidoscope may be disputed if they do not meet the challenge's criteria of qualified fandom through this form (not a live link):

• fandom source was not produced by chromatic creators
  
• fandom source does not contain chromatic characters or people
  
• [INSERT RARITY POLICY]
  
• a character or person does not identify -- or in the case of fictional characters, not coded -- as a chromatic.

Verifiable evidence must be cited (e.g. links to Anime Music Videos .Org, AsianFanfics, deviantArt, FanFiction.Net, pixiv, YouTube, etc. searches) for issues concerning rarity.

How do I sign-up?

Participants may sign-up for Kaleidoscope through this form (not a live link).

On the form, they must request three (3) distinct fandoms from the final list of nominated fandoms and specify whether they are willing to receive artworks, stories and/or vids; the participant may also include optional specific character requests and prompts. They must also offer at least three (3) or more distinct fandoms from the final list of nominated fandoms for which they are willing to create a fanwork and specify whether they are willing to create artwork, stories and/or vids.

How will I submit my assignment?

Fanworks for Kaleidoscope may be submitted to its AO3 collection by 9 p.m., 2011 September 26. AO3 has a tutorial for posting stories to a challenge here.

For artworks and vids, participants may either create a fake unidentifiable account (at 4shared, blip.tv, Dailymotion, Metacafe, Viddler, vimeo or YouTube, AO3's current list of supported sites for video hosting) or use a Photobucket or YouTube account we've set up for Kaleidoscope participants, upload their fanwork there and embed it in a post to be submitted to the Kaleidoscope AO3 collection. An unsigned version -- or one with a Kaleidoscope watermark -- must be used for the period between go-live and reveals to maintain anonymity (only after creators are revealed may a signed version replaced it).

We'll try to create a Kaleidoscope-specific tutorial for submitting fanwork to our collection as soon as we get the chance.

How do I find someone to beta my fanwork?

Participants may find or request beta services through our beta resources post (not yet live) we'll make for Kaleidoscope or through our Chromatic Beta (not yet live) mailing list.

How do I drop out from Kaleidoscope?

Participants may drop out from Kaleidoscope through [DEFAULTING LINK FORTHCOMING].

Defaulting must be done by 2011 September 12, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.) for assignments that include only artwork and story requests to avoid incurring a penalty. For assignments that include story requests, it must be done by September 19.

After September 12 or 19, we'll probably ask participants to complete their assignment if they're interested in participating in Kaleidoscope again. Participants who drop out without letting us know will probably be banned from future challenges.

How do I volunteer to be a pinch-hitter for Kaleidoscope?

Pinch hits will be sent through our pinch hit mailing list (not yet live), which anyone can join here (not a live link).

Claims are first come first served -- the first person to respond to an email detailing a pinch hit will be assigned to it -- and there are no limits to how many pinch-hits one may claim. Pinch-hit assignments made before defaulting deadlines will be due on 9 p.m., 2011 September 26 and after October 02. The fanwork requirements are the same as for the initial assignments: a minimum of 1,000 words for stories, 1:00 minute for vids, and completed pieces for artwork (e.g. not initial brainstorming or preliminary sketches), and it must be centered around at least one (1) chromatic character or person.

What are Kaleidoscope treats?

Kaleidoscope treats are "extra" fanworks (not a replacement for assigned fanworks) someone has decided to make based on a participant's requests from their Dear Doer of Darkness letter or a list generated from Kaleidoscope participants' requests.

Anyone may create treats. There are no minimum fanwork requirements for them, and they are due on 2011 October 02, 9 p.m. Pacific Time (U.S.A.).

When will the challenge go live?

Kaleidoscope will go live anonymously sometime on 2011 October 02 (Gandhi's birthday). Creators will be revealed on October 08.

I'm really excited about Kaleidoscope! What can I do to help?

\o/! There are lots of ways you could help!

• Challenge promoting: The simplest way to help is to promote our challenge in your journaling account and/or any communities you may moderate. Or you could help us contact moderators of relevant communities and ask for their permission to promote our challenges. There are a few communities we're thinking of contacting:
  
  • animanga_news
    
  • Anime Music Videos .Org?
    
  • AsianFanfics
    
  • drama_llamas/brokemycaps
    
  • handbasketnews
    
  • fandomcalendar
    
  • veni_vidi_vids and/or vidding
    
  • wuxia
    
  • yuritoday
  But more suggestions are welcome!


• Source promoting: Another way to help is to prepare a manifesto, meta, picspam, primer, resource, etc. post about (a) rare chromatic source(s) you would like to see represented in Kaleidoscope and increase its visibility!


• Making graphics: Or you could create banners and icons for Kaleidoscope to use in promoting its challenge. We would like to see all various chromatic sources and genres represented and would love your submission!


• Beta testing: Most of the forms for Kaleidoscope still need to be developed and coded so that means we need volunteers to help us beta test various versions of these forms to make sure they work.


• Collecting & wrangling data: One of the pressing issues we need to work out is our rarity policy and so we need volunteers to help us collect fanwork distribution numbers. There is also a chance that we'll need help wrangling all the names and titles of fandoms, characters and people nominated into a simple and comprehensive list as well as compiling a list of fandom promotion posts, Dear Doers of Darkness letters, beta offers and the, well, list goes on...


• Writing tutorials: We may need to write tutorials for signing-up and submitting fanworks for Kaleidoscope, with sub-sections dedicated to artworks, stories and vids. It would help our progress greatly if we have assistance in writing or collating tutorials for uploading videos to YouTube (or other video hosting sites), including subtitles (or other forms of captioning), uploading images to Photobucket (or other image hosting sites), etc.


• Hosting chats: One of the things we'd like to host is weekly or bi-weekly Kaleidoscope chats during the assignments. Idealistically, we'll like the chats to take place in various time-zones, but would need volunteers who are willing to act as hosts for these chats and to keep our chat room open.

If you would like to help us with beta testing, collecting & wrangling data, writing tutorials and/or hosting chats, leave a comment here with your contact info and details or contact us via PMs to dark_administrator or our e-mail: darkadmn AT gmail DOT com. Graphics for Kaleidoscope can likewise be sent to us through these channels.

Thank you for expressing interest in Kaleidoscope!

Comments

a thousand exclamation points!

[littlebutfierce]

I HAVEN'T EVEN READ THE POST YET & I AM LIKE *____________*

(but now off to read it...)

Okay, now I have read it at least superficially (apologies if anything is unclear: I'm really short on sleep & a bit fuzzy-headed at the mo). Firstly: YAY SUPER EXCITING!!!

Two things I was just curious about on a first read-through: why only 3 nominations per person, & only 3 requests for people who sign up? IIRC Yuletide's possible nominations per person was a higher number, & you could request up to 4 fandoms. I appreciate this might well be to make things technically easier--which is a really good reason! I just thought I would ask, esp. wrt matching people--it might be easier to match if people can select a slightly larger number of fandoms? (Then again, it might make everyone have infinitely more possible matches & make everything horrible.)

I will definitely promo this! Most of the comms I'm in are small but I do mod a rather large (not chromatic-specific, but for fic writers!) comm & will definitely mention it there. I would also like to help out w/some of the other stuff (beta testing, data stuffs, etc.) when possible, so I look forward to hearing more.

EEEEEEE so excited! Thank you so much for this. ♥ I can't wait!!!!1

Re: a thousand exclamation points!

[wistfuljane]

why only 3 nominations per person, & only 3 requests for people who sign up

There wasn't really one reason we settled on three, but at the early stage of our planning, we decided on three for across the boards in terms of nominations/requests/offers due to administrative reasons, e.g. it would simplify matters, be less numbers to keep track of, not make the list of fandoms too unwieldy to manage, etc. I hope that answers your question? And thank you for your support!

[inkstone]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, now that I've finished failing & sat down to read the thing

[inkstone]

One thing to consider regarding your rarity policy is that the fanart threshold might need to be high. Or rather, higher than the vid threshold and maybe the same as the stories.

The reason I bring this up is because, for example, if people uniformly want stories and request stories in this one particular anime/manga series... that happens to have a large fanart presence on Pixiv or Zerochan, it'll be disqualified. Which would be a shame if those requestors didn't want fanart at all. Now I understand there are lots of series out there, lots of rare series, so one fandom being cut is not the end of the world. But I can see this becoming an issue in the anime/manga fandoms since many series that are popular in Japan are not popular in other parts of the world and some anime/manga generate far more fanart than they do any other type of fanwork.

For example, I just ran quick search on Pixiv for the anime/manga, Blue Exorcist. It gives back 12K+ hits in terms of fan art. But if you look at FF.net, there are 59 stories total (and that includes three different languages, not just English). That's a big discrepancy and even by the arbitrary threshold I set above, fails the rarity test. There are a lot of reasons for that discrepancy that I could easily name but it is something to take into account.

[mercredigirl]

This sounds amazing. Ten kinds of amazing. Ten bajillion kinds of amazing. :)

[naraht]

This is something I've been wondering about for a while, but is it possible to get a definition for "sourcelander", "hyphenate" and "diasporian"? The meanings are not obvious to me, or insofar as they are obvious, they bring to mind people who are white as well as POC.

[wistfuljane]

We used the terms "sourcelander", "hyphenate" and "diasporian" as they are defined here and in contexts of non-white/people of color (who we referred in the beginning of the sentence) and/or non-Western regions.

[saekhwa]

I GLEEEEE.

I will definitely help promote. I think chromatic_fanfic would also be another fantastic comm that should be considered when promoting. Possibly also notgreenorblue.

Thank you so much for working so hard to put together this exchange! :D

[wistfuljane]

Oh, yes! In our excitement, we forgot some of the communities listed in our Communities of Interest post so yes, definitely chromatic_fanfic and possibly notgreenorblue. Thank you for the suggestions and your support!

[anenko]

Dark Agenda's challenges are always so well organized. I look forward to seeing the results of this one.

[gloss]

!!! THIS IS AWESOME.

(feedback later, squee first)

[oyceter]

Am still working my way through so no feedback yet, but !!!!!!!!!! So excited!!! So impressed by the amount of work that's gone into this!!!

[sophinisba]

Yay Kaleidoscope exchange!!!

I wonder if the eligible fandoms faq could be simplified, something more like:

What fandoms will be considered eligible for Kaleidoscope?

For this current challenge, we are only allowing rare fandoms whose source has both (a) at least one chromatic character in a major role and (b) at least one chromatic creator [and maybe specify here what counts as a creator]. For fandoms involving real people, the chromatic creator criterion does not apply.

And keep the second paragraph the same. The main thing I'd say about that first paragraph is to replace the word "contains" with "has" (since a source doesn't really contain a creator).

[glass_icarus]

Ah, thanks for this! Will take into account when we edit. :)

[esmenet]

So excited! I can't wait. :D

(No feedback yet, just happy.)

[trascendenza]

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODNESS THIS IS SO EXCITING I HAVE NO WORDS LEFT EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Basically, I'm intensely glad that this is going to exist.

Things that popped into my head reading this:
- Will fanworks in any language be accepted?
- I'm a person who's always for including more types of fanworks in challenges. It seems like graphics would be easy enough to include because it's pretty similar to artwork? (I mean, I consider graphics art, but I think you know what I mean in terms of category differentiation.) It seems like picspams or icons could be more difficult just in terms of whether people would actually request those. I know that I'd be likely to request a picspam, for instance, but I don't know that a ton of people would?
- Just because I'm thinking about big bangs lately, is there ever going to be a Kaleidoscope or Chromatic big bang challenge? (I partially ask because the idea of doing a Chromatic big bang challenge has been floating around in my mind.)

[troisroyaumes]

Will fanworks in any language be accepted?

Yes, definitely! We will make sure that we state that in the final draft of the policies.

It seems like graphics would be easy enough to include because it's pretty similar to artwork?

This is a good point; one of the reasons that we are asking for feedback on the definition of artwork is that we were not sure what people would want to request or offer. Or perhaps graphics could be a separate category on its own?

is there ever going to be a Kaleidoscope or Chromatic big bang challenge?

We haven't made any specific plans for one, but I (for one) like the idea! Perhaps in future years, we may have a big bang version of Kaleidoscope. :D

rarity redundant?

[dragonfly]

Is it necessary that they be rare fandoms? I only ask because in my White/Western/English speaking fannish experience, chromatic creators and/or chromatic characters are already rare. If there should be a fandom(s) that featured chromatic characters or was made by chromatic creators that happened to be huge and thriving, why exclude it? Maybe it could be welcomed and celebrated. Just a thought.

Re: rarity redundant?

[troisroyaumes]

We certainly don't disagree with you that a large fandom with both chromatic creators and characters deserves to be celebrated! But one of the goals for Kaleidoscope was to highlight fandoms that are not so well-known in our fannish circles and hopefully introduce people to new ones--this is the reason why we plan to have a fairly lengthy and active pre-nominations period to promote qualifying fandoms.

We do provide other opportunities to celebrate large chromatic fandoms through other challenges we organize throughout the year and plan to keep on doing so outside of this particular exchange.

[springgreen]

Eeee!

This isn't really an editing suggestion for the FAQ or anything, but I was wondering if there could be some sort of optional tickybox or author note where people could say if they gave permission for their fic to be podficced later on and what that permission was (blanket, with notification, etc.)?

... since I would be totally up for compiling a list of podficcable fic from Kaleidoscope for chromatic_podfic afterward! (Or during!)

[sophinisba]

Ooh, I like the idea of built-in podfic permission.

[florahart]

Couple of nitpicks:

Pinch-hit assignments made before defaulting deadlines will be due on 9 p.m., 2011 September 26 and after October 02.

...what? I am guessing you mean, Pinch-hit submissions for assignments made before defaulting deadlines will be due on 9 p.m., 2011 September 26; pinch-hit submissions for assignments made after defaulting deadlines will be due October 02?

(although I think since this has dates for the submission deadlines, you might as well just state the defaulting date).

and

on the nomination form mock-up, I like how the example character names are three different languages. I notice, though, that what it says in the instructions is to add a character name. I think you mean, add at least one and up to ten? That is, I think the information elsewhere says up to ten, but on that form, if I were looking at just it, I would think only one.

Those are totally nitpicky nitpicks, I know.

[glass_icarus]

OH!! Re. your first comment, yes, I'd made a note to go back and fix that... probably didn't save thanks to my flaky computer. Will do so in the actual draft.

Thanks for the input! :)

[crossedwires]

Yay! ♥ ♥

[chaosraven]

Can anyone recommend a good way to find out who the "creators" are for video games? I think Assassin's Creed would be an awesome game to nominate, as it fits two of the criteria, but I can't find information about who was involved with the project, other than the lead creator (who is French Canadian).

Mods: what part does a chromatic person need to play in the development team in order to qualify the source for this exchange?

[troisroyaumes]

Well, I'll see if my fellow mods disagree with me on this point, but since our criteria says that at least one chromatic creator is sufficient, I would say that anyone on the development team who can be considered chromatic should be enough. Is there a standard among game fandoms as to who usually counts as having played a creative role on the development team?

[alias_sqbr]

Woo! This is beautifully precise, and huzzah for fanart being included! I also really, really appreciate you asking people to add captions to art and videos (and am amused that people looking for an example are going to up the hitcount on my crappy little Gokusen comic)

I have no criticisms or clarifications, everything seems pretty clear. Now I just have to think about which of the fandoms I like might be eligible...

[crossedwires]

Can I nominate something like this, Tam Lyn by Benjamin Zephaniah? (The original fairytale is a Scottish ballad and this is a racebent retelling of it.)

[wistfuljane]

The initial response is yes, we accept nominations of chromatic transformative work of white/Western/other sources -- as long as it's clear that the nomination is for the chromatic work and not the white/Western/other sources, that is. =)

[azuire]

I've signal boosted over at eid_ka_chand, since I'm a mod there ^^

Also: will there be allowances either in form or a post for podfic permission, either blanket or specifically for the work produced in Kaleidoscope?

Secondly, re: rarity policy, how is the rarity measurement for works in other languages? I can't name any offhand, but I'm quite sure more fanwork may exist for say, a fandom more popular in its source language, which may defined as 'rare' when considering the fanwork produced in a different language from the source.

/excited!

eta: i haven't had time to read the other comments, so apologies if this has already been answered.

[troisroyaumes]

It wasn't answered before, but someone asked the same question just before you did, so I will just link you to my response.

My co-mod, wistfuljane, also answered the question about podfic permissions. :)

Thanks so much for signalboosting!

Very minor nitpick

[alias_sqbr]

For example, videos with English-language audio, for example,

Too many "for examples" :) Have posted to access_fandom since this is the first challenge involving art/vids I've seen that encourages transcripts.

Re: Very minor nitpick

[glass_icarus]

Thanks for the catch, and for the signal-boost!

[lilacsigil]

This looks so exciting! I think having a specific and time-limited dispute period is a fantastic idea.

I'm a mod of comicstore_news and I will be happy to promote the challenge there - there's not a huge number of chromatic creators in Western comics but there are some very influential ones! When should I do this?

Additionally, with the definition of "creator", what happens with company-owned characters? Reginald Hudlin, for example, has written characters such as Black Panther and Storm, but these characters also have a long history written by mostly white creators. Both were created by white writers; I suppose the characters created by Dwayne McDuffie such as Static Shock are a clearer case. (Not that I think X-Men would qualify, but Black Panther probably would.)

[troisroyaumes]

After discussing with the mod team, we decided that we will use whoever is commonly credited with creating the series in question to assess eligibility. In the case of Black Panther, the creators are usually cited as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and since to our knowledge, neither is chromatic, the comic won't qualify for our challenge.

However, Static Shock would indeed be eligible, as Dwayne McDuffie is credited as the creator.

[surpassingly]

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SO EXCITED *_______________________*!!!

I have a question -- do you have any specifics (like dimensions, formats) for the banners and icons for Kaleidoscope?

[troisroyaumes]

We don't have any specific guidelines except that we prefer promo banners be under 480 px in width and icons be the standard 100x100 px. :D

[(Anonymous)]

I noticed that the Yuletide lj comm wasn't in the list of communities in which you were thinking of promoting this exchange - are you planning to promote it there, nonetheless? I think quite a few Yuletide participants will be interested in this challenge, and not all of them may hang out in the Dreamwidth side of fandom, so to speak.

[vi]

I am SO EXCITED about this! Thank you mods for putting together this excellent set of guidelines.

[ghost_lingering]

OMG MAYBE THIS WILL MEAN MORE KDRAMA VIDS.

Question about vids: would vids that somehow animate still images (say, a vid that took scans from a comic and manipulated them in AfterEffects) count or is that too close to a slide show?

I'm assuming (since you said you based some of the guidelines off it it) that you're thinking of making some kind of announcement to the festivids comm, but if you weren't, then you should!

Also, re: eligibility of fandoms -- in Yuletide in recent years things like albums and even stranger things like t-shirt designs, etc, have been nominated as fandoms. Will you accept these kinds of fandoms so long as they fit with the rest of the requirements?

[troisroyaumes]

would vids that somehow animate still images (say, a vid that took scans from a comic and manipulated them in AfterEffects) count or is that too close to a slide show?

Yes, we will allow vids that animate still images. :)

in Yuletide in recent years things like albums and even stranger things like t-shirt designs, etc, have been nominated as fandoms. Will you accept these kinds of fandoms so long as they fit with the rest of the requirements?

Yes, as long as these fandoms (1) have at least one chromatic creator (e.g. albums must be from a chromatic musician, T-shirts must be from a chromatic designer), and (2) the resulting fanworks feature chromatic main characters.