Rules for the 2021 HP DRIZZLE FEST

[hp_drizzlemod]

Welcome to the hpdrizzle RULES POST.
(View the rules on a Google Doc.)

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We are excited to have you here. Please read through this whole post and feel free to ask any questions about whatever we might have forgotten to include.

What is hpdrizzle?

It's an anonymous prompt-based fest. Authors and artists will create a Harry Potter piece that involves weather in any kind; for example, it could be Character A and Character B kissing in the rain or Character C building a snowman in their garden. The possibilities are endless. We accept Het, Femslash, Slash, Gen, Three/more-somes, along with angst, dark, fluff, hurt/comfort, humour, etc, etc…

Timeline:

Prompting Period: April 01 - April 15

Claiming Period: April 20 - August 07

Submissions Due: August 15

Posting Begins: September 01

Prompting:

Prompting begins on 1st of April and will remain open until the 15th of April (10 pm New York Time).

A link will be provided on April 1st and all members can leave up to 10 prompts per person. The link will be a "Google Form," and we're requesting all members to limit their prompts up to 10.

Your prompts can be from Fantastic Beasts and the Cursed Child. Your prompts can be crossovers with other fandoms, as long as the HP character is the main character of the prompt.

Prompts are not plot points. Please limit your word count for the prompts. Please don't post full lyrics to a song as a prompt. You can just write something like:

Kiss the rain Whenever you need me Kiss the rain Whenever I'm gone too long ~ Billie Myers

As we collect prompts we will update the list and share it with our members.

Claiming:

Claiming will begin on the 20th of April. It'll be done via Google Forms.

Sometime between the 16th and the 19th, the mods will organize the prompts in different categories: Het, Slash, Femslash, Multi/threesomes, Any/Other.

We will give you the link to ALL categorized prompts by the 19th of April (or before), so you can be ready for your claim. Claiming will also be done via Google Form.

During your claim, you'll be asked for the following:

• Your username.


• Your email address.


• Link to your tumblr, if you have one.


• What prompt you want.


• We will ask you to pick at least 2 prompts just to be sure you have a backup if your first choice is taken.


• You do not have to pick a prompt from the list. You can sign up w/ your own idea for fic or art. (More below.)

Prompts are simply guidelines, and the creators can choose to do whatever they want with the prompt. This is not a gift exchange so you have the freedom.

♥ Anyone can make a claim. You do not have to prompt to claim.

♥ You are not obligated to make a claim if you left a prompt.

♥ All stories submitted must be unique to this fest.

• They can have multiple chapters but the story must be totally complete and not a prequel or a sequel to anything already published.

♥ If your first choice is taken you will get your second choice. You do not have to pick from the list of prompts to create for the fest. You can simply write/create art for your own idea. If you are doing something for your own prompt, you still have to fill out the Claim Form and let us know what you're doing. This is so planning can be easy for the moderator when it's time to post for the fest.

♥ Please let us know if you have to drop out of the fest. We will not be upset, you will not be banned from future fests; we just need to know ASAP!

Claiming is anonymous.

Posting is anonymous.

When all submissions are posted, we will create a masterlist and REVEAL who wrote what (or created what art).

The keyword is ANONYMOUS. Friends, we cannot stress this enough. It's ANONYMOUS. We had some serious issues in the past with new members who started to post their story/art on other platforms (like Facebook or Tumblr) BEFORE reveals.

The HP DRIZZLE fest is ANONYMOUS. Please, please, please respect this rule. If you simply cannot wait and are not a patient person to wait until mid-October for reveals, then we'd like to request that you do not sign up.

Being anonymous is half the fun. The other half is reading the anonymous entry. It's heartbreaking to have people sign up and then not respect the rules. It's heartbreaking for the mods, and it's downright disrespectful for other participants.

Fest begins on 1st of September. If your anon entry goes up on the 15th, it does not mean you can now post wherever you want. You have to wait until every single post is made, an anonymous masterlist is posted, and a REVEALS post is made.

In the past, drizzle has been quite popular (because our members are awesome) so it's hard to give you a schedule. Once you submit your entry, we will not be able to tell you when it'll be posted but most entries are first submitted, first posted, basis.

Having said this, of course, you should tell people you are participating in Drizzle. Just don't say what prompt you're writing or what plot you are doing. But feel free to share w/ a limited number of friends like "It's a rare pair, or femslash, or drarry, or wolfstar, etc…"

Submissions are due on the 15th of August.

You can do a couple of things. For art, please email us your entry. We will host the art on our server - we allow people to sign their art because we do not want unhappy artists who get their art stolen. We respect the artists and it's unfortunate and we will allow this change in rule this year.

Every single entry will be posted on AO3. Headers and links will be posted on DW and Tumblr and Livejournal. No art will be posted anywhere but on AO3. Art can be any medium and any style. It must be at least 600x600 pixels. Please wait until reveals (full masterlist is posted) to post your art on your tumblr. PLEASE. WAIT.

Fics must be at least 1000 words. There's no maximum. You can post your story to our AO3 COLLECTION on your own if you know how to do it. If you do not, you can ask us and we'll show you tutorials, etc…

All fic submissions need to have been beta-read. We will skim through your story and if it's evident you did not have a beta, we will return your fic and ask you to fix it. The content is yours, we require it to have a proper SPaG (Spelling and Grammar) proofread.

We will have an AO3 collection. For members who are comfortable with posting their fic on the COLLECTION, will be welcomed to do so. This is very important, because if you do not know how to do it, don't worry, we can do it for you. You can email us your fic or we can do a step by step tutorial on how to do it.

Please make sure you POST TO COLLECTION (see example here) on the link provided and do not simply post your fic on ao3 - that is the wrong way to do it.

Every single person has to email us a header with your fic or art. If you are posting your fic/art yourself on ao3 collection, then you still have to email us a header.

What's a header? It's something that goes on top of the link for the fic, telling the audience, what the fic/art is about. Everyone needs to use the same header. Please fill the following out, and email it to: hpdrizzlemods@gmail.com along with the ao3 link where you posted your story/art in the COLLECTION.

<b>Title:</b>

<b>Author/Artist:</b> (write your user name and/or link to your profile page) - we will remove this during posting and add it back when the fest is finished.

<b>Prompt:</b> # (this will be the prompt you selected)

<b>Pairing(s):</b>

<b>Word Count/Art Medium:</b>

<b>Rating:</b> (G to NC-17)

<b>Any content you should be warned for:</b>You can leave this blank and add more detailed tags in your ao3 post.

<b>Summary:</b> Please keep it brief.

+ It's very important that you do not remove the coding.

+ Your header does not go in your ao3 page. The header is THE MODs for us to poste only for LJ/DW/and Tumblr.

+ If you copy and paste your header in ao3, then your name is there, and then it's not anonymous.

+ If you have any confusion about this, please ask.

If you submit your fic to AO3 directly, then you will be asked to add the mod account as a co-creator. Please add: drizzle_mod. This is important because when your story is posted for the fest, the mod will know when it'll be posted and we can update the date of posting so it shows up on top. We will remove ourselves within a day or two after your fic/art is revealed. It's a minor requirement and if you are really, super, totally uncomfortable w/ this, we can talk about it.

Extensions will be judged on an individual basis. Try to give us as much notice as possible, we mods don't love last minute panics, it messes with our pretty schedules! Ask for Extensions ONLY VIA EMAIL. (The subject of your email should read: EXTENSION- YOUR USERNAME). If you need to drop out for any reason, please send us an email letting us know before the deadline for submissions.

PODFICS are also allowed for the DRIZZLE fest.

The rules are simple. If there’s a weather related fic you’d like to record and submit for the fest, please gain the permission of the original author.

Here are some general guidelines:

+ All stories must be in the Harry Potter fandom.

+ The stories can have any rating and can be any pairing as long as the theme of weather is very much present in the story.

+ The stories can have any length.

+ The stories can be written by the podficcer themselves or by someone else (with author’s permission).

+ The stories must be recorded specifically for the fest.

+ The podficcers will not be anonymous. A masterlist will go up at the end of the fest.

On April 20, when the CLAIMS opens, all those interested in creating a podfic can email us directly and sign up. All we need to know is:

1. Your AO3 username.

2. Your email address.

3. Link to the story you’re going to record.

4. Confirmation that you have explicit permission.

5. If you will be providing your own HOSTING space for the podfic.

If you have questions, you can ask us anytime. Our email is: hpdrizzlemods@gmail.com or you can send us an ask on tumblr. We're: hpdrizzle.tumblr.com.

Please remember: We want you (and us) to have fun.

And… Mods are people. Human beings make mistakes. They require time offline, time to sleep and eat, and take a break from mod duties from time to time. On top of it all, Some Mods also have full time jobs. Be gentle and always remember this fest is here to celebrate, have a laugh, and enjoy oneself. Don’t stress yourself out.

• If you have to drop out, let us know.


• If you need to express disagreement, please do it with respect.

Super delighted to have you participate!

Thanks!

Your excited Drizzle Mods.