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1. No discrimination. This is meant to be a safe space to foster positive interactions. Anyone who says or does anything racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, etc, will be banned.
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2. Be respectful to people of different backgrounds. MDZS is a Chinese work, however, there are fans of MDZS from all over the world, so take this into consideration when discussing cultural or moral values. In addition, we understand that people have differing religious views. We have decided to name the exchange a Secret Santa, however, it is not limited to people who celebrate Christmas. It is meant as a gift exchange to spread joy to give and receive a small gift during the holiday season.
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3. No ship/trope/kink bashing. All ships are allowed and welcomed. We understand that not everyone will like everything, however, we ask that you would please police yourself and decide what content you wish to see, instead of bashing someone for creating it.
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4. Have fun! This event's purpose is to bring joy during the holiday season, so please enjoy yourselves 🥰

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Guidelines

How It Works

- During sign-ups, you will be asked for your preferred medium, characters, ships, AUs and NSFW preferences to create for. You will then be asked to provide up to three prompts.
- The moderators will pair you up according to your preferences. You will have two months to create a work that fulfils your giftee's prompt.
- On posting day, works will be posted anonymously in a public collection. They will stay anonymous until January 1st, and then gifters will be revealed.
For more information, please refer to the schedule.

General Guidelines

- No plagiarism.
- Please state your prompt when you post a work.
- All participants must have an AO3 account to post to the collection. This includes artists.
- Currently, this Secret Santa Exchange is meant for fics written in English only due to moderation constraints. Kindly write all of your fics in English.
- All participants must submit at least one completed fanwork. You can submit more than one, but one is compulsory.
- All fanworks must feature the MDZS universe only. (Novel canon and its adaptations.) This means no crossovers and no RPF. Alternate universes are okay, and original characters are okay, as long as your giftee hasn’t specified against them.
- All works must be tagged with appropriate trigger/content warnings as per AO3 rules and regulations, and for basic decency.
- Please do not talk about recognizable content in your work online as this defeats the purpose of a Secret Santa.
- If you wish to drop out, please inform a mod ASAP so we can assign a pinch hitter. People who ghost us will be banned from all future events hosted by us.

Author Rules

- Minimum word count of 2000 words. We have kept this short as we know there are a lot of events running at the moment.
- There is no maximum word count, however, keep in mind that you must post a complete fic by 10th of December
- Podfics are allowed, however, we require a transcript to be posted alongside the podfic for anyone who is hard of hearing

Artist Rules

- Art can be in any format including but not limited to: drawings/paintings, photoshop manipulations, videos, etc. If you're not sure if your particular art format counts, please feel free to contact us via the options in the footer
- Please include alt text with your images for anyone who is visually impaired

Pinch Hitter Rules

- Pinch hitters are people who will step up and write/draw for people whose gifter has dropped out or has prompts people don’t want to choose.
- Pinch hitters should be available to step in and complete a prompt on short notice (you may only have a few days, depending on when people drop out)
- Pinch hitters will have a choice in what prompt they will pinch hit for. You can always opt out if you are not comfortable writing/drawing a certain prompt. Prompts that need pinch-hitting will be sent to pinch-hitters and you will contact a moderator in private if you wish to claim it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I have a beta?
A: Of course, but they will not be affiliated with the Secret Santa and will not be receiving a gift. We will have a channel in the Discord (#looking-for-beta). If you wish to find a beta or offer your services as a beta, we welcome you, however, the event will not be organising betasQ: What if no one likes my prompts?
A:We will ask the pinch hitters, but if none of them claim it, we will then ask you to submit another prompt. Don’t worry, we will do our best to make sure everyone gets a gift!Q: What if I don’t like the prompt I get assigned?
A: The mods will do our best to assign prompts according to the preferences you state, but we aren't perfect! If the prompt doesn’t suit your tastes, please tell us ASAP so we can match you with someone else.Q: What needs to be in a prompt?
A: The sign up form will ask you to submit up to three prompts. Prompts can be as vague (e.g. modern wangxian roommates au”) or as specific (e.g. “lwj and wwx: polar opposites who both teach at cloud recesses. when covid puts them into lockdown, they start giving video lessons, revealing they are married and have a son”) as you like, however, please keep in mind your gifter will be basing their work on the prompt.Q: What do I do if I need clarification on a prompt?
A: Please message a mod in private and tell them what you require clarification on so they can forward the message on to the giftee. When the giftee responds, the mod will then forward the message back to you. This ensures your identity stays hidden to the giftee.Q: Is NSFW content allowed?
A: Yes, as long as your giftee hasn't specified against it.Q: I want to stay anonymous even after names are revealed.
A: The reveal is an essential part of the Secret Santa, and it’s a bit disappointing for someone to find out their gifter is remaining anonymous after waiting for the reveal like everyone else. For this reason, we will not be allowing anonymous submissions. We apologise for any inconvenience.Q: Can I write/draw an OC?
A: Your work must be focused on an MDZS character, but OC side characters are allowed as long as your giftee hasn’t specified against it.Q: Does my work have to be stand-alone?
A: Yes, it must make sense as a stand-alone work. If you wish to continue it after the event is completed, you may, but the work must be complete by the submission date.Q: Can I upload my work in parts?
A: No, all works will be released at the same time, so no one is left waiting for their gift. Please complete and submit your entire work by the submission date.Q: What if I can’t finish in time?
A: Please alert us ASAP so we can assign a pinch hitter.Q: What if I want to co-write with someone?
A: This is fine, but please bear in mind each sign-up form will be considered as a single participant, meaning you will receive one gift. Of course, you may sign up more than once and change your preferences for each co-writer, but this also means you have to produce another work.Q: I don’t like the person I’ve been assigned.
A: Please state anything like this in your sign-up so that we can make sure not to match you with them! If it still happens, message a moderator ASAP so we can assign you to someone else and assign a pinch hitter.Q: I want to make something with racism/sexism/homophobia.
A: Firstly, please make sure this is okay with your giftee. If you’re not sure, message a mod and we will pass on the message. Secondly, please be aware of the line between a work presenting intolerance, and an intolerant work. We allow works that present intolerance, such as a character growing up in a homophobic environment. However, works where degradation and intolerance is the entire purpose are not allowed.

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How to Post Art on Ao3 (2023)

In order to post art on Ao3, it must first be hosted on another site. Due to updates to their policies since this guide was first created, we no longer recommend Discord or Imgur as image hosts. Instead, here are some alternative options:Postimages.org
You can post images on postimages.org without an account. As soon as you post an image, it will direct you to a website with a list of links. Use the one that ends with .jpg or .png, labelled "Direct link" for the image URL.imgbb.com
Click "Start uploading" to upload an image without an account. After you have uploaded the image, use the "Viewer link" to view your image. Right click the image and click "Copy image address" to get the image URL.

How to insert your image into an Ao3 Work:Select the Rich Text Editor from the top right of the text editor. Click "Insert/edit image" in the menu bar.

In "Source", paste the URL for your image.
In "Image description", type in alt text describing what is happening in your image.
Press save. The image should be inserted in your work!

These are two image hosting sites we recommend that are free, anonymous and easy to use. Feel free to use any other image host you prefer, however, we would advise against using any of the following websites, listed on the Ao3 FAQ as unsuitable:

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