What is this?

What is this?
The serious answer is that this is a non-denominational, secret snowflake-style, 100% digital gift exchange, in celebration of the server’s one year anniversary. The joke answer is Y O U R  W O R S T  N I G H T M A R E, by which we mean, a very fun activity with your server friends! Very fun! Get hyped!

I’m not a writer or an artist...can I still participate?
YOU BET YOUR ASS YOU CAN. Not only can you participate, we want you to participate! This exchange is open to any and all individuals on the server, of any and all creative talent. It doesn’t matter if as much as you can draw is a stick figure: if it fills a prompt, do it! Not to mention, there are so many different types of media we have available to request, and if you come up with a medium we don’t have listed that fits the prompt, then go for it! 

Hop over to the request form or down to the fill guidelines for more information about other mediums you can create fills with (not all inclusive!)

How does this work?
You fill out the Secret Sniper request form as thoroughly and completely as you can. Then, your Secret Sniper Shooters take your request form and format it for posting in the #request-postings channel anonymously, and it will be linked by a prompt number. Anyone can browse these requests and when they see one they like, they simply DM the prompt number to either Jam or Geo to lay claim to a prompt. That prompt will then be marked with a check to show that it is filled. Prompts can get up to two fills.When all prompts have two fills and we hit our posting deadline, it’s time for posting! Don’t be alarmed if there are delays—we want to make sure that everyone has at least two fills. If we have under-filled prompts, we’ll put out a call for pinch-hitters ~2 weeks before the DM deadline. Participants must DM mods their fills or a link to their work before posting (by 1/17). Ideally a week later, on the server anniversary (1/24), your friendly secret sniper mods will post all of the prompt fills in the #request-postings channel for all to hype up.

so, in steps:
1. Fill out the Secret Sniper request form 
2. Wait for it to be posted, look it over for any glaring errors
3. DM the mods the prompt number of the prompts you'd like to claim
4. do your thing
5. DM your fill to mods on or before 1/17
6. watch for your fill to be posted on or around 1/24
7. enjoy all of the other fills! go nuts over them!

Where will it be hosted?
(Almost) all on server baybee. Fic works and original works will be hosted in an ao3 collection.

Are you mods really going to check all of the submissions?
We sure are, buddy, to make sure none of the fills contain a prompt’s DNW’s, also known as a Do Not Want (explained further in Fill Guidelines, scroll down!), and that they satisfy the guidelines.

About Requests and Fills

What can I request?
Pretty much anything—your request will include preferences for fandoms, non-fandom items, pairings, tropes, kinks (including “none thank u”) and more. Take a look at the request form for more information!

Your request is your Secret Sniper gift list – someone who fills it can choose one part, multiple parts, or many parts of your request to fill. It’s in your best interests to have a request with multiple different parts so more people are able to fill it.

Will I be assigned a request to fill?
No. However, by signing up for this exchange, we do expect you to also participate in fills! You are welcome to fill as many requests as you want, but we would like you to at least fill one. It doesn’t have to be big or complicated, and you do not have to fulfill every single part of the request.

What happens if I can’t finish a fill or need to drop out?
It happens, and we understand. We also hope things are better soon. There are no penalties for dropping your fill, you just must let mods know as soon as you can so we can let other people claim or put out a call for pinch hitters. 

Do I have to submit a request in order to submit fills?
Nope! In fact, we think you’re rad for wanting to fill prompts without getting anything!

What if I have questions about a request?
Message your questions about the prompt with the prompt number to one of your friendly Secret Sniper Shooters so they can pass along your questions to the prompter. Your Secret Sniper Shooter will relay answers back to you.

Can my fill be anonymous?
Yes! We will ask you when you send us your fill whether you’d like to be tagged in the fill posting. If not, that’s totally fine. Fills will be posted like this: “Prompt by: @geo Filled by: @jam” and either of those things can be anonymous.

Can I talk about the prompt that I’m filling on-server?
Please do not—this is meant to be a secret exchange! You don’t know who you’re filling for until you sign up for a request, and they don’t know who you are either. People who sign up to fill a prompt will be DM’d their prompter’s name on condition of secrecy, and provided the user has agreed to share it. All be revealed on the server anniversary and then you can go buckwild. Talking about your request or fills in DMs is ok, just beware that you have no idea who might be filling for you! Please don't talk about this exchange on any other servers, either! You don't know who may see it or who may join your servers later. To preserve the fun, don't talk about your fills or requests on any public forum.

You are welcome to talk about the exchange itself on server—we'd love to see you being excited for it!!

I know this is a digital exchange but what if I want to do something physical?
That is outside the scope of our exchange. We are a huge server, and we are unable to moderate and manage the logistics of sharing identifying information like addresses and potentially real names. If you want to send real, physical, real-life gifts, we suggest putting together a group chat with a few of your trusted close server friends and organizing a small exchange that way.

What if I fill my prompt before the DM deadline? Can I DM it to the mods earlier?
You sure can! DM it to either Jam or Geo as soon as you feel like it, just make sure to specify which prompt # it is for.

What is a DNW?
A DNW, also known as a Do Not Want, is something that you absolutely Do Not Want in your gift. To receive it in your fill would ruin the exchange for you. It can be anything from a huge trigger to something that you just don’t want to read about. DNW’s should not be used to box your creator in!

We (your Secret Sniper mods) have final say on whether or not any DNW is enforceable. This means you won’t be able to request a story where all the characters are vampires and have a DNW: AU’s (at least not in a story where they’re not already vampires!). 

Do I have to abide by a prompt’s DNWs?
Yes, you absolutely must. Not only must you abide by all of the DNWs, you must make sure that your fill actually fulfills some part of the request. Mods will be checking fills when you submit them, and if we do not feel it fulfills the prompt or if it has DNWs in it, it will not be posted.

Fill Guidelines

What is the minimum size of a work?
The minimum word count for any writing-based fill is 300 words. This includes things like meta, head canons, original writing, or fic. You are absolutely free to write more than 300 words and there is no maximum! But if one of you writes something bonkers like the word equivalent of fuckin Infinite Jest or Les Mis I am coming for you. :rizagun: lovingly.

What are the guidelines for art?
Digital and traditional art are both fine. For digital art, it should be at least 150x150 pixels. Traditional art should be on unlined paper and should be a clean scan, not just a cell phone picture. When we say traditional art, it doesn’t have to be fancy! It can be a decked out post-it note or it can be a wild oil painting of Edward Elric riding a giraffe. It’s all up to you.

What are the guidelines for craft works?
Craft works are a little unique for this exchange! This is a 100% digital exchange, so you can’t send someone a rad ass hat that you made. However, you can send them a pattern for a cool hat, a list of unique and interesting yarn suppliers, some origami patterns and a link to your favorite paper. You can send them a fandom-specific crafting pattern if they wanted (for example) FMA and knitting stuff. Ultimately, use your imagination about how to do craftworks in a digital exchange.

Make sure that any patterns you send, or whatever you do, is something your recipient could feasibly make, so no knitting patterns that would require movement in the sixth dimension please!

What are the guidelines for podfic and other audiowork?
If you plan to record a podfic of a fanwork, please ensure that you have author permission. We have asked requesters to find this for you, but if they do not, you can reach out to authors directly or go hunting on their ao3 pages. Podfic and short story recordings must be at least 300 words. There is no time limit. There is no word or time limit on poetic works or original music.

What are the guidelines for rec lists and playlists/fanmixes?
Rec lists, of either books or fic, must include at least 5 works. Playlists and fanmixes must include at least 6 songs. Please put them together on youtube where possible, not everyone has spotify. 

What if I want to fill something with a medium that isn’t listed here or on the request form?
Go for it! If you’re worried that it won’t fully satisfy the request, send one of the mods (Jam or Geo) a DM so we can talk about it. There is a 95% chance we will say yes, but we might give you some guidelines.

Can I spend money on fills?
Well, we cannot stop you! You are welcome to spend money if you feel like it on commissioning art or writing for someone’s prompt. However, we do not encourage this simply because life is expensive and this is low stakes and ideally low effort.

Are fills exclusive? Can I post the same fill for multiple people?
Any fills you make should be for one person!

Can I post writing fills to AO3?
We encourage this! If you post on AO3 we ask that you post it to the AO3 collection and that you gift the writing fill to the prompter, but check to make sure they have an AO3 account first. You can ask us (the mods!) to ask for that person’s AO3 account name. If you wish for your fic to remain anonymous after you post it, you will need to add it to the AO3 anonymous collection—postings on AO3 will not automatically be anonymous! Make SURE you post it to our collection otherwise your recipient will be able to see their gift right away instead of on reveal day, which isn’t what we want!