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File 135184541762.png - (130.34KB , 259x315 , tf2christmas.png )
13331 No. 13331
The Secret Santa Exchange is an event in December where artists and writers in the TF2 fandom exchange gifts. All participants create one drawing or short story based on their giftee’s prompt and receive a gift from their Secret Santa in return.

You can see last year's gifts here:
Art: http://tf2chan.net/dis/res/11026.html
Stories: http://tf2chan.net/afanfic/res/9426.html

Gifts:

Artists:
One drawing equivalent to your usual standard of completed work, coloured or greyscale (must be finished beyond a sketch/line art). Gmod and SFM are allowed, but please make sure the image is of high artistic quality. You can add your username and a link to your online gallery/tumblr/website in the final submission e-mail if you don’t want your gift to be anonymous.

Writers:
One finished short story of at least 1000 words. Please have it beta-read/run through a spell-checker before submission. Use BB Codes for style changes: [i*] and [/i*] for italics, [b*] and [/b*] for bold, [u*] and [/u*] for underlined, [s*] and [/s*] for strike-through, remove the *s. Stories must be submitted as a .txt file or a Word 2007-compatible document. The full content of the document will be posted, so only include your username and/or a link to your online gallery/tumblr/website if you don’t want your gift to be anonymous.

Please don’t upload your Secret Santa gift to other galleries/sites before December 25; it’s supposed to be a surprise.

Sign-up:

To sign up for the Secret Santa Exchange, you need a working e-mail address (I’m the only one who’ll see it, so please use one you frequently check). Fill out this form and send it to writingcyan@hotmail.com with ‘Secret Santa’ in the subject line:

Name: Your username or a random name to identify you if you prefer to stay anonymous. I need this to give you your gift, so please don’t write ‘anon’.
Rating: Either ‘Safe For Work’ or ‘All Ratings’. ‘Safe For Work’ means no explicit sex or gore. You can mention in your prompt if you’d prefer an adult gift, but if you put ‘All Ratings’ the final rating will be at the discretion of your Secret Santa.
Gift Prompt: Character(s)/pairing/moresome and what you want them to be doing. Canon characters only, no OCs or animal hybrids (except the Tentaspy, he’s established fanon). Your prompt must fit in a single scene or frame, so keep it short. If adult, please include a SFW alternative. Examples of prompts: ‘Sniper/Spy, fun with whipped cream’, ‘Soldier visits Engie on his ranch after the war to confess his feelings, can be fluff or smut’, ‘Post-MvM, BLU Engineer muses on turning traitor, SFW and no pairings please’.

If there are things you absolutely cannot draw/write because of triggers, please include these in your e-mail. I can’t make concessions in regards to favourite pairings or kinks since the prompts will be randomly assigned, but you’ll have full artistic liberty in your interpretation of your giftee’s prompt. Could be Sniper and Spy are just using that whipped cream to make Demo a birthday cake, after all.

If you feel up for taking on an extra prompt in case someone else is prevented from finishing theirs, please note this in your e-mail as well. I hope it won’t be necessary, but you’ll have my undying gratitude!

Deadlines:

Sign-up: November 27th, 11:59 PM GMT.
Prompt send-out: November 30th.
Gift submission: December 24th, 11:59 PM GMT.
Gift sharing: December 25th.

If events prevent you from completing your Secret Santa gift before the submission deadline, PLEASE e-mail me ASAP so I can find a solution.

Questions/comments?

Please post them in this thread or send me an e-mail.
Expand all images
>> No. 13332
LET THE MERRIMENT BEGIN.
>> No. 13333
question

should we state whether or not we're drawing/writing and if we would prefer a drawing/story??
>> No. 13334
>>13333
>should we state whether or not we're drawing/writing and if we would prefer a drawing/story??

I know Kilo asked for this last year, but in the end she couldn’t match up people’s requests to give everyone what they wanted. It seems unfair that I’d have to choose who gets their preferences and who not, so to spare myself the extra work and having to disappoint some people, I thought it’d be easiest to just send out the prompts and let each participant decide whether they’d like to do art or writing. After all, these aren’t commission pieces, just small holiday gifts to cheer everyone up.

If you’d prefer having me distribute the prompts according to preferences for art or stories, though, please let me know and I'll change the submission guidelines.
>> No. 13335
>>13333
I think it also helps to be flexible in your requests. Last year, I gave out three afanart prompts, three regular fanart, three afanfic, and three fanfic, and the artist/author was free to pick whichever they liked. That way, if I ended up with someone who wasn't particularly comfortable writing something porny, then they were free to pick another prompt.

I might consider doing this again this year, but I'll need a little bit to think about it. Last year I meant to write a short little ficlet, and ended up with 19 pages.
>> No. 13337
WHOO WHOOOO! I've been looking forward to this! I took me some time to think of a nice prompt, and I sent it in as quickly as I could!

I can hardly wait until I can start writing! Whee!
>> No. 13339
So pumped to do this again. We really should do more of these events. It's really perfect for Halloween and Valentine's day, too.
>> No. 13341
Quick question: who do we send our prompts to this year and when is the deadline for prompt submission?

Once again, always happy to see this come around and I do agree with D.F. 38 in that we should host these more often, not just Christmas. I think it's a great way to bring the community together more!
>> No. 13343
>>13341
>Quick question: who do we send our prompts to this year and when is the deadline for prompt submission?

My original post got truncated; if you click to view the full text, it should hopefully tell you everything you need to know. (For the record, the prompts should be sent to me at writingcyan@hotmail.com and the submission deadline for prompts is November 27th, 11:59 PM GMT. Please use the sign-up form in the first post!)

>>13339, >>13341
If this Secret Santa Exchange works out well, I would definitely be up for participating in/managing additional art/fic exchanges throughout the year. It’s a lot of fun and as you mention, Valiax, it also brings the community together in a great way. I would love to see more community events for artists and writers!
>> No. 13347
Are we allowed to, like, submit a list of prompts for the writer/artist to pick from?

I keep thinking of prompts that are pretty specific and/or bound to squick someone out and I don't want the writer/artist to force themselves for my amusement, you know.
>> No. 13353
>>13347
>Are we allowed to, like, submit a list of prompts for the writer/artist to pick from? I keep thinking of prompts that are pretty specific and/or bound to squick someone out and I don't want the writer/artist to force themselves for my amusement, you know.

Sure, you can make a list, just try to keep it reasonably short and remember that the more general/vague your prompt is, the easier it’ll be for your Secret Santa to fill it. A highly detailed prompt might be difficult to draw, for instance, if your Secret Santa turns out to be an artist. On the other hand, I remember people saying the prompts were too vague last year (‘Sniper/Medic, fluff’ being an example), so including a setting or kink to guide your Secret Santa’s muse will probably be appreciated.

If you’re afraid of squicking your Secret Santa, offer them a SFW alternative. Personally, I wouldn’t make my prompt(s) too squicky; the number of people in the fandom who’ll draw/write certain things isn’t overwhelming, so chances are your Secret Santa would feel out of their depth and choose a ‘safer’ interpretation.
>> No. 13354
Maybe this is not the place to ask, but I'd like to see the prompts posted together with the gifts. Last year many of the gifts were posted without the prompt, and I really wanted to see what the prompt was to certain fics/drawings.
>> No. 13356
>>13354
>Maybe this is not the place to ask, but I'd like to see the prompts posted together with the gifts. Last year many of the gifts were posted without the prompt, and I really wanted to see what the prompt was to certain fics/drawings.

I thought the same last year, especially for artwork where subtle details might go unnoticed without accompanying image text. It wouldn’t be a problem for me to post the relevant prompts with the gifts, but I’m not sure everyone would want their prompt revealed (although I suppose it would be fairly obvious from the gift what it was). What do you guys think?
>> No. 13357
>>13356

I think it's fine, unless someone specifically says they don't want it revealed. Although, they'd probably sign up with a throwaway name anyway.
>> No. 13363
File 135208411877.jpg - (98.78KB , 570x644 , medicfascinated.jpg )
13363
I kind of want to, but at the same time I don't know if anyone would be interested in my art.
>> No. 13364
>>13363

Haha yeah I'm feeling the same. But I really regretted not doing it last year...
It looks like a lot of fun, so I say we should go for it!
>> No. 13365
>>13363, >>13364

If you’re worried about not being up to par, compare your work to last year’s art gifts (the link is in the first post). We don’t require participants to have an art degree, just to finish a full drawing of their giftee’s prompt, coloured or greyscale. As long as you don’t submit a sketch or uncoloured lineart, you should be fine. The Secret Santa event is first and foremost about having fun and spreading some TF2 holiday cheer, and as cliché as it sounds, it’s the thought that counts. Put in some effort and your giftee will see and appreciate it.

If you’re still worried, you’re also welcome to mail me a link to your online galleries/a sample of your work first.
>> No. 13368
Is there a maximum word limit, or just the minimum? Someone upthread mentioned one of their ficlets turning into a 19-page monster, and I've found myself climbing into the multi-thousands before as well. If I've got a limit, I can edit to that maximum, but if people are happy to just see what happens then I'll just write on accordingly.
>> No. 13369
>>13365
Ahhh, okay. I can draw okay, I'm just not super experienced at the coloring aspect. I might still send you my art in case, though.
>> No. 13371
This old shoe? Why, of course I want to take part!
>> No. 13374
>>13368
>Is there a maximum word limit, or just the minimum?

There is no maximum word limit. The only requirements for written submissions are that they must be 1) at least 1,000 word and 2) self-contained short stories. I believe the publishing industry caps short stories at 7,500 words, but your story can be as long as you care to write it, provided it’s not a pre-/sequel to another story or a multi-part story itself. Last year I personally wrote 7,000+ words (but I wouldn’t recommend aiming that high unless you’re planning to skip Christmas shopping altogether).

>>13369

You’re more than welcome to send me a sample of your art to review. I’ll link to my e-mail address via my username in this post.

>>13371

Thanks, Yang! I'm glad to have you on board again.
>> No. 13384
Woop, just submitted mine now - super psyched to be taking part!
>> No. 13389
I've never done a secret santa before. I'm a little nervous and hope I do it right, but I'm also really looking forward to it!
>> No. 13390
YES. Super excited for this; I sorta thought last year's Secret Santa would be the last on tf2chan. Pleasantly surprised! These sort'a things always make my Christmas 100 times better.

I also needed a reason to get off my butt and draw something.
>> No. 13391
Heh I hope I wrote everything correctly. This's gonna be exciting, it will be my first year of partaking in the Secret Santa as well (even though I've been lurking around TF2chan since quite a long time back under different names)
>> No. 13392
I can squeeze in time to draw some TF2 goodness and/or smut! I'm a little out of practice in the drawing department but I still think my art is good enough to gift, so count me in!
>> No. 13393
When we are writing about someone's prompt and plan to use BB codes do we use this [b*] or <b*>

Because I was taught to use these <b*>, I don't mind using the other ones, I just want to clarify.
>> No. 13394
I'm vaguely horrified that there was even a possibility of TF2chan Secret Santa not happening this year. I've been winding up for this since June. So thank you, Cyan, for stepping up and saving my dream. You're my newest hero.

>>13393
Square brackets, bro.
>> No. 13403
Yay! So glad this is going down. I am a big fan of Secret Santa-ing!

I would encourage anyone to join even if they're unsure of their skills-- it really is the thought that counts, to me. And that way more people are participating, which is... the point of Secret Santas, yes?

It would be neat to do this kind of exchange at other times of year... like... Secret-Santa-of-Christmas-in-July? Or... Secret Easter Bunny? Secret Valentine? Secret... Leprechaun? Secret Hallowe'en Type Thing?
>> No. 13404
>>13403
I'm in favour of doing this again in July.
I don't know why everybody and their grannie thinks it's necessary to do their fundraisers and gift exchanges around Christmas, when people are already inundated in fundraisers and gift exchanges, not to mention final exams and holiday work schedules. I couldn't say if having an art exchange earlier in the year would increase participation or not, but it would be a lovely opportunity for those of us who get stretched too thin in December.


And to ya'll worrying about your skill levels, don't. If we were looking for top notch work, we'd buy commissions. Secret Santa's about doing something nice for somebody, and you're all perfectly capable of doing that. I hope.
>> No. 13409
There’s only a week left until sign-up closes on November 27th, so anyone who would like to participate in the Secret Santa but hasn’t signed up yet should consider doing it soon. It’s awesome to see the turnout so far (we’re just shy of last year’s number of participants already), but the more the merrier, right?

Everyone who has submitted their prompt before 1 PM GMT today should have received a reply from me. If you haven’t, either your prompt hasn’t been registered or my e-mail got caught by your junk mail filter. Please contact me here or resubmit your prompt to writingcyan@hotmail.com if you think this might be the case.

Just ten days until December! I hope you’re all as excited for this as I am!
>> No. 13411
I'll try to email you soon Cyan. I just have to make sure I can squeeze in doing another gift thing next month or not.
>> No. 13412
>>13411
If musical offerings are allowed, I might consider it.
>> No. 13415
>>13409
I know I am!
>> No. 13416
>>13404
Maybe we could have it as a 'Secret Summer Santa' thing. That'd be fun.
>> No. 13418
>>13411
>I'll try to email you soon Cyan. I just have to make sure I can squeeze in doing another gift thing next month or not.

No worries, you still have three more days to submit your prompt. As long as it’s in my inbox before the 28th, you’ll be fine.

>>13412
>If musical offerings are allowed, I might consider it.

Sadly, I don’t think the current form of the Secret Santa allows for alternative media. The submitted prompts have all been set up for a visual or narrative interpretation and I’m not sure if that’s readily translatable to music. There was a brief discussion in /inception/ before I posted this thread and the only non-drawing/non-writing medium mentioned was Gmod/SFM. But I don’t want to say no without knowing what kind of music you create; could you provide an example?

>>13416
>Maybe we could have it as a 'Secret Summer Santa' thing. That'd be fun.

It would! I’d be up for it, at least.
>> No. 13420
>>13418
>But I don’t want to say no without knowing what kind of music you create; could you provide an example?

The stuff I write is all over the place. I have a thread in Fanart, but the rest of my music is here:
http://www.soundcloud.com/rhythmbastard
>> No. 13423
SIGN-UP FOR THE SECRET SANTA EXCHANGE CLOSES IN TWO DAYS.

If you want to participate but haven’t signed up yet, please do so now! Last chance is the day after tomorrow.

>>13420

Thank you for the link! I must shamefully admit that I don’t often frequent the SFW subforums on the ‘chan, but I found your thread and I really do like your stuff. ‘Force Of Nature’ especially, but then I have a very soft spot for Scouts.

I have discussed with the ‘chan moderators whether musical composition should be allowed for the Secret Santa when it wasn’t outlined in the original set-up. Our concern is that the current format of the prompts is very focused on visual and/or narrative media and that the submitted requests might be unsuitable for poetry/song-writing. However, if you think you could pull off a narrative or mood-setting piece, especially if you could also do a small drawing/Gmod image/story to complement your music, we would allow it. (I imagine you might submit your song with a narrative ‘framework’; maybe the song was composed/sung by one character to/about another, or is something they hear on the radio that sets the mood for a scene or reminds them of something/someone, etc.. If you’re totally at a loss, you’re welcome to contact me; I wouldn’t mind writing up a small framework story to go with your piece if you provide me with the idea.) I hope this compromise is okay with you?
>> No. 13424
Ohmygod, five more days until prompts go out. Is anyone else insanely excited?
>> No. 13425
>>13424
BRB wetting myself with glee.

Captcha: ontowly papers
Oh good, as long as I'm not making a mess.
>> No. 13426
>>13423
Thank you! I'm going to be posting up some older stuff there soon.

>I hope this compromise is okay with you?
That sounds fine. This would be a fun exercise!
>> No. 13431
SIGN-UP FOR THE SECRET SANTA IS NOW CLOSED.

If you have signed up but haven’t received an e-mail from me in return, your participation may not have been registered! Post a comment to this thread and resubmit your prompt by e-mail ASAP.


The prompts will be sent out on Friday. Are you all excited yet?
>> No. 13432
>>13431
I'm so excited that I've run out of pants.

I mean, I'm not excited at the lack of pants. I'm just so excited, and the end result of this excitement is has caused me to soil all of my pants.

In short:

BRING IT ON, I'M SO PUMPED.
>> No. 13433
28-11-12

Friday seems unbelievably distant. The only thing holding me together is knowing that Anne will update her story within hours. I don't know how much longer that will last. I believe that I am losing control. I need help.
>> No. 13434
>>13433

Oh man, no one hinge their sanity on me, I'm not stable enough!

But, the fic's updated, so there's that.

Come on, Friday, hurry!
>> No. 13435
File 135421082914.png - (125.35KB , 433x345 , 130093104581.png )
13435
Ahh, the nerves are starting to hit.

scared to death I won't know how to do my prompt
>> No. 13436
auughh The anticipation is killing me. Can't wait to get my greasy mitts on my prompt.
>> No. 13437
ALL PROMPTS HAVE NOW BEEN MAILED OUT. If you have not received your prompt for the Secret Santa, or if for some reason you find yourself unable to fill your giftee’s request, please contact me ASAP so we can find a solution!

The deadline for e-mailing me your gift is December 24th at 23:59/11:59 PM GMT. However, if possible, please submit your gift well ahead of the deadline so I’ll have time to organise everyone’s contributions before the 25th.


And thank you, everyone, for joining TF2chan’s Secret Santa! We have a whopping 66 participants this year (possibly a new record?), who have sent in prompts to cover every single class and a handful of NPCs too. There’s a lot of love for Demo and Pyro especially; it’s just beautiful, people. I hope you’re all excited about the prompts you’ve received—I can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with!
>> No. 13438
IT BEGINS.
>> No. 13439
GIFT SUBMISSION: “I’ve finished my gift, now what?”

I have received a question on how to submit your gift when it’s done, and since we have a number of new participants (welcome, guys!) I’ll post a brief guideline about gift submission.

You must e-mail your gift to me. Don’t post it on TF2chan yourself. I need to tag the gifts with the recipient’s name so everyone will know which one is theirs. Then I’ll post all the gifts together on TF2chan on December 25th.

Artists:
- Attach your image in an e-mail and send it to me. Alternatively, upload it to an online storage site such as Dropbox and e-mail me the link. Please don’t post it to an online gallery/tumblr until after the 25th.
- Your image must be a GIF, JPG, or PNG. The maximum file size allowed is 2000 KB.
- You can add whichever watermarks/signatures/links to your galleries that you usually use on images (unless you want to be anonymous), but it would be polite to offer to e-mail your Secret Santa an untagged high-resolution copy for printing (if you want to do this anonymously, you can do it through me).
- You can name your file anything you like. I will also add the prefix ‘For_[GifteeName]_’ to avoid confusion.
- If you want your image to be posted with a note to your giftee, add the note to the body of the submission e-mail and mark it as ‘Artist’s Note:’.

Writers:
- Your story must be e-mailed to me as a MS Word 2007-compatible document or a .txt file. Do not copy-paste the text into the body of the e-mail, please.
- The ‘chan uses BB Codes for style changes, not html. Use square brackets: [i*] and [/i*] for italics, [b*] and [/b*] for bold, [u*] and [/u*] for underlined, [s*] and [/s*] for strike-through, remove the *.
- The full text of your document will be copy-pasted to TF2chan. Any notes for me should be put in the body of the e-mail instead. You can add a note to your giftee if you like; mark it as ‘Author’s Note:’ at the top or bottom of your document.
- I would also recommend giving your story a title (I, for one, often link to stories on the ‘chan from tumblr and it’s much easier when they are properly titled).

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
>> No. 13451
Psst! It’s been a week since the Secret Santa started and you’re all so quiet. How are you guys doing? Started on your gifts yet or waiting until the holidays? Prompts okay and all?
>> No. 13452
>>13451
I've been planning and planning for the past week or so, and finally managed to crank out a solid three pages today. I'm estimating it'll be somewhere near...maybe 20 when I'm done. Not sure. Either way, I'm done like, the first part of five or six. So it's going well.

Awesome prompt, too. Having lots of fun with it. But it's got some smootz in it, so planning it in class, I have never been more glad to have completely illegible handwriting. Guy beside me still isn't sure if it says 'Anal sex' or 'Annual socks'.

I forgot how much I can get accomplished if I just sit down and write. I'm actually very proud of it so far.
>> No. 13455
>>13451
I took my prompt like a cactus up the ass, but that's because I'm a whining, snivelling piece of shit, and not because there was anything the matter with the prompt. With the help of a writing buddy who has been incredibly good and patient in pretending to sympathise with all my whinging, and also the help of a wee, cute little man who likes to give hugs, I've managed to get over myself, and for the past few days I've been writing about five pages a night. Well, most of it's crap, so it'll get thrown out, but it feels good to be working on something. It's been a while since I've had a deadline on creative writing--I'd forgotten that I'm capable of productivity.
>> No. 13456
>>13451
Working on finals, unfortunately all of my teachers have been piling it on us last minute and I want to explode. I have a couple of ideas for it, though, not sure which direction I wanna go.
>> No. 13458
>>13451
Got the concept worked out, now just need to put finger to guitar.
>> No. 13460
>>13439
The sketch work is done save for some details, currently working on the lineart which is usually the part of the picture I spend most time on. The promt itself is fun and suits me rather well.
>> No. 13464
>>13451
I want to try a lot of new things with this prompt, but I am scared that will just cause the overall quality to go down (not to mention I am slow as hell)...but I guess the important thing is am trying!
>> No. 13472
>>13451
I started, but it took me about twenty 2-30 sentences drabbles to get a final idea of what I want to do with my prompt. I do have a plot figured out by now so it should all be fine!
>> No. 13474
>>13451

I haven't been having a very good time even sketching up ideas. I'm worried that no matter what I do it'll turn out wrong.
>> No. 13477
>>13452
Up to nine pages, and the main chunk of plot is done. All depends on how many pages the smut takes up, now.
>> No. 13481
>>13451

Still working on mine, biggest concern right now is making sure I don't make one of the characters involved out of his character simply because it's a character I rarely play in-game. Accent isn't a problem, it's just what he does commonly I'm worried about executing because I myself never experienced what he does most oftentimes.

Thankfully I have a Beta on standby to help me out. Just need some encouragement to get this prompt written and done by the 22nd at least.
>> No. 13482
I’m glad to hear from all of you! I hope you’re having fun creating your gifts, even if they don’t always agree with you. If you get totally stuck and can’t budge your muse, please feel free to e-mail me for a pep-talk or a second opinion on your idea/sketch/WIP/plotline/pairing/whatever. If you think you’ll have problems finishing your gift in time, please contact me too so we can find a solution!

Also, I’ve received a couple of requests for betas, so if there is anyone out there with the surplus energy to lend a fellow Santa a hand, please speak up! You can post your contact information here or e-mail it to me; just make sure to clear your betaing with me before exchanging WIPs so you won’t accidentally swap with your giftee and reveal your gift before time.
>> No. 13483
Done! I'm pretty stoked. Hope my giftee finds it to his/her liking!

I wouldn't mind beta-ing, provided it's not too too close to the deadline.

I need a beta myself as well - or, failing that, just a second (or third, or fourth, or...) opinion on if everything is in-character
>> No. 13484
I've got one more scene left to write and edit, then the final go-over, and then I'll be sending mine in!
>> No. 13485
Whew! And sent!

(and Cyan, feel free to call on me if there are any emergencies where something might need to be whipped up fast, I'll have my computer with me when I'm on holiday, and once the travel is out of the way, I should have the time to write if need be)
>> No. 13486
Writers! I need urgent help!

What's another word for balls?

My thesaurus is surprisingly limited in synonyms for genitalia.

And not ones like crown jewels, or nards. Serious sounding words.
>> No. 13487
>>13486
Orbs. Globes. Nuts.
>> No. 13488
>>13486
I find that the term "bollocks" fits perfectly in any context. It's classic, really.
>> No. 13489
>>13488
Too Scottish. I dunno about nuts, though. It's a good Scout word, but I dunno about anyone else.
>> No. 13490
>>13489
I guess you could go with descriptors if you get desperate. "round flesh", etc.
>> No. 13501
Yay! Aside from the formatting, I'm all done!

And I have five SOLID pages of porn. Go me!
>> No. 13503
>>13501
Just a quick test, to make sure I've got this shit down.
>> No. 13506
If we can offer to email a high-resolution copy to the giftee do we write it in the "Artist's note" or uh how? I rather not post my email on a public forum. (This is probably a noob question, sorry, but I'm a anxious person and just want to do things the right way)
>> No. 13508
>>13506

It’s fine to ask when in doubt! And I understand not wanting to share your personal e-mail address on a public forum. If you like, you can send the high-resolution file to me and I will forward it to your giftee on the 25th after posting your gift here on TF2chan for everyone to enjoy. That way your e-mail address will stay private.
>> No. 13511
So between moving and album work, I'm going to be able to do this. Is all right if I sent you a beta of my accompaniment writing?
>> No. 13512
>>13508
That would be great, thanks!
>> No. 13515
>>13511

Of course! Please do.
>> No. 13520
Just sent mine in.

I almost thought I wouldn't have it done in time.
>> No. 13521
I'm finishing mine today, now that my classwork is finally done.
>> No. 13523
Proofreading right now. Gotta go fast.
>> No. 13524
Is it Christmas yet?

Is it Christmas yet?

Is it Christmas yet?
>> No. 13525
I think mine's done, but I'm so nervous about handing it in! I'm afraid as soon as I send it, I'll spot a major glaring error or forgotten detail. I think I'll wait and see how it looks in the morning, just to be safe.

So excited!
>> No. 13526
I just finished my fic. I can't wait until I can see all the gifts!
>> No. 13527
I might turn mine in a bit (like at most an hour or two) late because I've been kicked in the ass by life but so far it looks pretty good. On the upside for my giftee, since it's a traditional media piece, I can send them both a high-res version or the physical copy if they want to.
>> No. 13528
Hi guys! Only an hour remaining until the official deadline. Are you excited? I am!

Some of you are aiming for a photo finish and that’s alright with me. I haven’t had time yet to reply to everyone who’s submitted their gift within the last days and a half (around 35 of you did), but I will be e-mailing those who haven’t in an hour, so if you don’t hear from me your gift has been received.

For those of you who’ll be needing an extra couple of hours to finish the last details, don’t despair. It’s past midnight in my time zone and I’m slightly tipsy on mulled wine, so I won’t be posting the gifts until noon (Central European Time) tomorrow. That’ll give you some extra time to get your gift in. If you can’t finish your gift within the next 12 hours, though, please let me know!

I will be available on my e-mail for the next couple of hours and again from mid-morning tomorrow (CET), so if you’ve got any questions or need a hand with last-minute problems, feel free to e-mail me.

Merry Christmas Eve!
>> No. 13529
>>13528
Ah shit, sorry, it's only 6 pm here, so I thought I had more time! I'll finish the secret santa I'm doing for another site's trade in a bit and then upload them together.
>> No. 13530
For those on Eastern Standard Time, 12 noon CET is 6AM.

WOOT! Christmas breakfast with a side order of TF2
>> No. 13531
Captcha: garnishing allstsi- Garnishing All Stsi? That's not how you spell tree captcha, you're drunk.

So since Cyan's in that weird Europe-y time zone, and I've yet to lay this down, my song's going to be a little late. Check your email in about an hour for my backup gift.
>> No. 13532
Fröhliche Weihnachten everyone! And I got mine in a whole 24 hours ahead of the deadline, for a procrastinator like me that was amazing, haha! I can't wait to see all the gifts tomorrow night. Excitement!
>> No. 13533
I must be a glutton for self punishment after procrastinating for half the month then finally getting it done in time the night before the deadline. But in some sort of crazy look about it, this helps me actually sit down and write more since whenever I try to start a fanfic, I never continue on it and either lose interest in it or loss of motivation. Having a time limit really helps me in working in something I used to do a lot years ago in other fandoms. Glad that TF2chan has these events to aid in getting me to sit down and be creative without any issue.

Can not wait to see these year's gifts, being this is my 3rd year attending the Secret Santa event. Hell, I even would agree to a Summer Santa event mentioned earlier on here. Anything to get me and others more involved with the chan !
>> No. 13534
I'm not saying I'm looking forward to seeing all the Secret Santa stuff as much as I'm looking forward to Christmas with my family, but I am definitely looking forward to it quite a lot more than I could explain *to* my family.
>> No. 13536
I’m glad to hear you’re all looking forward to the gifts being revealed – I am too! Two months of work on my part are coming to a close.

I will be posting the gifts a little later than previously announced, though, since a few participants are running late, but they will be up later today (those of you who are Americans probably won’t notice the delay; I apologise to the Australians, though!).

Unfortunately, there are also a couple of participants who haven’t submitted gifts or been in contact with me during the last 48 hours. I’ll have to presume they won’t be sending in gifts. This means I’ll have to call on kind-hearted souls to volunteer for helping out their fellow TF2 fans. If any of you out there can find the time in your holiday schedules for an extra drawing or drabble, please let me know. I’d hate to disappoint any of you hardworking people!
>> No. 13537
>>13536
Oh goodness that's awful D: I hope you got the email with the prompt and extra prompt I sent you yesterday.

A friend of mine who isn't in the secret Santa offered to help, I sent you her info via email.
>> No. 13538
>>13536
If you give me enough notice (within the next couple of hours), Cyan, I can help out with a leftover prompt. The artwork may be a little rushed, and most likely in greyscale, but better something than nothing, right?
>> No. 13539
I can't believe Christmas in Oz is nearly over when it's just starting in the US. Grarrrrr! Oh well, I'll have some great stories to read on boxing day.
>> No. 13540
Sorry. I fell asleep on my drawing around three in the morning ( which was roughly Nine am your time I think?) and it's now nine over here. It shall be done, hopefully within the next hour or so. Markers kicked my ass, so there's still a bit of background left to do. But it shall be done.
>> No. 13541
Volunteers have stepped forward to claim all the orphaned prompts! Somewhere, Soldier is shedding a single manly, American tear at this display of honest Christmas team spirit. Well done, guys!

I’m still holding out for a couple of late-comers, but I’ve been in touch with everyone and am confident it won’t be too long until I can start posting the gifts – it will definitely happen later today. Thank you for your patience! I promise you it’ll be worth the wait.
>> No. 13542
Cyan: I just sent mine to you! Sorry for the tardiness there. I hope it's gonna be worth it and my giftee will like it.
>> No. 13543
Refresh. Refresh. Refresh
>> No. 13544
>>13543
same here
>> No. 13545
Cyan: I just sent mine. I'm sorry it took so long. :(
>> No. 13546
And BAM! Song is in! It's a little simple. but it goes with the piece.
>> No. 13547
File 135647284845.gif - (194.19KB , 450x270 , 2a89014d4101c6b32b7152fd37ed09df.gif )
13547
DICKS EVERYWHERE
>> No. 13548
It's already so late over here :O I hope I get to read some and see some before I go to bed!
>> No. 13549
>>13548
Same here dood
>> No. 13550
You've been in touch with everyone who's sent gifts in? I haven't gotten an email back from you. Hopefully you got my email and the attached/dropboxed gift. I sent it in about 1-2 hours after the deadline.
>> No. 13551
>>13550 No, Cyan hasn't emailed me since a reminder a few days ago. (Or weeks, all blurs together for me)
>> No. 13552
That terrible feeling when you're reading your fic after it was submitted and, even after proofreading and a beta, there's typos. Oh lawd. I hope they're not too glaring.

Totally excited to read all of these though! HNGH
>> No. 13553
>>13550
>>13551

I haven’t e-mailed most of the participants who submitted their gifts right before the deadline; within the last 24 hours of the deadline I received 52 gift submissions and another two dozen messages asking for various kinds of assistance, coinciding with the single largest family event of the year in my country, the Christmas Eve dinner. Out of necessity, I prioritised replying to the requests for help and posted a notice to this thread (13528) saying I’d e-mail the people whose gifts I hadn’t received at the time of the deadline, which I did.

I am, at this moment, down four gifts out of 66. Two of those are no-shows, which have been delegated to two team-spirited volunteers and will be completed in a couple of days. I will be e-mailing the recipients of those gifts to let them know beforehand so they won’t be disappointed when I post the gifts. The other two I’ve been promised before the end of the day; I e-mailed both participants an hour ago to ask for an ETA, so hopefully I’ll hear from them soon.

I am organising the gifts now and will be posting them tonight! I’m sorry for the delay and hope you’ll be patient with me a little while longer – we’re still ahead of last year’s schedule delay, so everything is pretty much going as well as could be expected from an informal event such as this. Boxing Day is still Christmas, right?
>> No. 13554
Thanks for the quick reply and again, for all the hard work put into this event. Merry Christmas
>> No. 13555
Ok it's 7:38 AM I gotta go to bed now. Hope to see the gifts when I wake up
>> No. 13556
>>13555
Haha yeah. its nly 1:53 am here and im ready to pass out
>> No. 13557
Heck, its only 12 here, and i'm beat! Goodnight to all you lovely people, and especially to the coordinator of this entire thing. Must be hard to organize all this...but boy, its worth it.
>> No. 13558
Phew! Thanks for your patience, guys.

I have received the second-to-last submission now and will begin posting everyone’s gifts in a moment. The art gifts will go up first, followed by a short break while I convert the last of the fics to a ‘chan-friendly format, and then the fic gifts will go up past noon local time.

Three of you will not be receiving a gift today. I have e-mailed the participants affected and allied myself with team-spirited volunteers to get the orphaned prompts filled ASAP. Thank you, everyone who rushed to contact me with offers for help! You’re good people and you make me proud to be a part of this fandom.

I also apologise for the delay! I have learned some important lessons on logistics doing my first Secret Santa event for the ‘chan, including the necessity of having multiple contingency deadlines – 35% of you submitted your gift after the first official deadline, which is why it has taken me some extra time to get everything sorted.

I will write a review of the Secret Santa event after posting the gifts and I hope you’ll also take a moment to offer me comments and suggestions for improvements. All in all, though, it has been my pleasure to organise this event! I hope you have all had fun (as much fun as can be had with a deadline looming, in any case) and will enjoy the cornucopia of fanworks I’m about to unleash on you.

Now, time for gifts!
>> No. 13560
Sorry, I had my fic queued up to post on the 26th on tumblr so it's up just a bit early.
>> No. 13561
Quite likely a noob question but I'm a bit confused....are the gifts being emailed to everyone seperately or all posted in this thread? Just wanted to check as I've not had anything in the mail and checked all threads on the chan!
>> No. 13562
>>13561

The gifts are being posted to the ’chan.

The art gifts have all been posted here: http://tf2chan.net/afanart/res/4540.html

I am currently in the process of posting the fic gifts – you’re welcome to read the fics as they’re uploaded, but please don’t reply to the thread until I am done: http://tf2chan.net/afanfic/res/14058.html

I will only be mailing individual gifts to participants whose Secret Santas have provided high-resolution or alternative versions of their gifts.
>> No. 13563
Ahh, so many new stories, I'm in heaven. ♡
>> No. 13564
And it is done.

Two months, 100+ hours of work, and now finally all the gifts have been posted (with the exception of the three orphaned prompts—I haven’t forgotten!).

Art gifts: http://tf2chan.net/afanart/res/4540.html
Fic gifts: http://tf2chan.net/afanfic/res/14058.html

If you have sent in a gift and I haven’t uploaded it, please contact me ASAP. If you have participated and have neither received a gift nor an e-mail from me, please do the same.

I have made a tumblr announcement and I’d appreciate if you’d reblog it: http://writingcyan.tumblr.com/post/38913444895/the-tf2chan-secret-santa-is-now-finished

I will finish up the last details tomorrow and write my review post. All comments and suggestions for improvements for next year’s Secret Santa are welcome in this thread and in my mailbox.

THANK YOU, EVERYONE! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
>> No. 13565
On behalf of the whole chan, Cyan, I just wanna say thank you for organizing this. You did a terrific job, and I can't wait to do this again. I know I'm not allowed to post smiley faces, but I want you to know that if I could, I'd be posting a bunch of them, and those little heart emotes, too. You did great, and we all had a great time, I'm sure.

Merry Christmas, everyone!
>> No. 13566
Yes, it was a good holiday season full of trial and errors for the Secret Santa event. I enjoyed working on my prompt, now just waiting on mine as I got orphaned so just a much longer waiting game for me.

Regardless, happy holidays TF2Channers!
>> No. 13567
Thanks a lot for this. I know I'll be back next year!
>> No. 13570
I see the mercs as more combat-sexual than anything else. They definitely get much more animated when there's killing to be had. (Just listen to the Administrator on Payload missions when the bomb is about to reach the final terminus.)
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