Collaboration, Beta, And Technical Help Post

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

Collaboration, Beta, And Technical Help Post

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This is a screened post! Offers will be unscreened by the mods, but responses to those offers will stay screened. Collaboration reports will always stay screened.

Collaboration Reporting

• If you are collaborating on a work with someone else who is also signed up to the exchange, before you post the work to the collection please respond to this post with what AO3 names you will be posting under, who your recipient is, and how you are planning to split the wordcount.
• If you are collaborating with someone who is not signed up but is using the work to hit goals for Triple Crown (link), please let us know, while including the above information!
• If you are not posting from a signed in account, please include an email so that we can contact you for any required clarifications.

Beta

You may reply to this post offering to beta for other people. When you do so, we will then unscreen your post so that it's visible.

Your beta offers should include:

• What you're offering to beta. This could be medium, your betaing style (For example spelling and grammar only) or any other details you think are relevant.
• Your limitations (length, fandom, DNWs, etc)
• How you would like people to contact you. If you post logged in, people will be able to reply to your post (their replies will be screened and visible by you). Otherwise please leave contact information.

You don't have to use it, but here is an example beta form:

</p> <p> <b>Your AO3 username:</b> (exactly as it appears on your sign up, if you've signed up — this is to make sure your own recip doesn't accidentally ask you to beta your own gift) </p> <p> <strong>What fandoms?</strong> </p> <p> <strong>What kind of betaing?</strong> </p> <p> <strong>Anything you won't beta?</strong> </p> <p> <strong>Expected availability and turnaround time?</strong> </p> <p> <strong>Contact?</strong> </p> <p>

To reply to a beta offer, if they've given you instructions on how to contact them then please follow those instructions. Otherwise, you can reply to their post here. Your reply will be screened to everyone but you, the person you replied to, and the mods.

When replying to an offer of betaing help, your work should be complete, edited to the best of your ability, and fall within their stated limits (If someone says they can beta up to 5k, don't contact them with an 11k work.).

Workskins

This year participants (and non-participants trying to reach 10k for Triple Crown) may earn up to 2k wordcount (1k per workskin) credit by posting AO3 workskins for other participants to use. This post can be used for both requesting and offering the creation of workskins in a manner that will preserve exchange anonymity

The basic guidelines for workskins are:

• Requested workskins should be requested with the intent of using the workskin to fill a requested opt-in tag for someone signed up to FIAB.
• Offered workskins should fill a gap or create an alternative style that wasn't previously available (at least as far as you can tell from a reasonable search) which is usable for a nominated medium, as the goal is to increase the resources for everyone!
• Posted workskins should include a short tutorial/simple instructions in how to use the workskin HTML/CSS since, uh, it would be sad if no one could figure out how to use your spiffy new workskin!

How to Make an Instagram DM Mockup by xslytherclawx is a good example! You can find more examples in this collection of workskin and HTML guides. Most have an example, short instructions, and clearly labeled HTML and CSS examples.

Information for people who need workskins

If you need a workskin for a Fic In A Box gift, you may request one by posting here. In order to preserve anonymity, we will not unscreen your post but instead will repost the information

Information you'll need to include:

• What kind of workskin you need. Try to avoid naming a fandom unless it's very fandom specific, but otherwise include any detail that is needed. The description should be functional and attempt to avoid spoiling the contents of the gift you will be including within it
• Your contact details. We will be passing this on if someone volunteers to make your workskin, but it will not be included in our repost. Email is preferred (since everyone has an email address!) but multiple forms of contact details would be fine.
• The intended recip(s) (this is to make sure we don't accidentally have your recip make the workskin), and anyone else that you do not want us to connect you with.

Replying to a Workskin Offer

If they've given you instructions on how to contact them then please follow those instructions. Otherwise, you can reply to their post here. Your reply will be screened to everyone but you, the person you replied to, and the mods. Please make sure to include any details they've asked for!

Information for people who want to make workskins

When you post a workskin it should be posted to the Fic In A Box 2021 collection with no recipient. We will then reveal it early (work revealed, but anon) so that it may be used! As mentioned above, posted workskins should include a short tutorial/simple instructions in how to use the workskin HTML/CSS since. Each workskin is worth 1k, and you can make up to two workskins for wordcount credit.

Making workskins independently

• If you make a workskin that you want to put up for others to use (for your own work, because you have it and it isn't posted anywhere, because you thought it was a fun idea), just let us know that you've posted one.
• You can do this here, by email, or in the notes of the workskin when you post it to the collection.

Respond to a request

• If you see a request posted that you would like to make a workskin for, please respond to the post and we will connect you with that person!

Offering workskin creation:

• You may post to this post offering to create workskins. You should include details about your limitations, what information you need from someone who needs a workskin.
• After you post we will unscreen your post. If you post logged in, people will be able to reply to your post (their replies will be screened and visible by you). Otherwise please leave contact information.
• Your post should include what you're able to make, limitations if you have them, and contact details.

Technical Help

You may also post other offers of help here. These should be offers that will not count for wordcount for you and should be more technical in nature.

How to offer help

• Comment on this post and include the AO3 username you used to sign up for the exchange (if applicable) and details about what kind of help you're offering
• Please be clear about what your limits are, for example how much turn around time you need to help or if you have content restrictions.
• After you post we will unscreen your post. If you post logged in, people will be able to reply to your post (their replies will be screened and visible by you). Otherwise please leave contact information.

Examples of what you might post to offer:

• Transcription help: Offering to transcribe audio that was not originally created in a written format
• Medium specific help: If you're experienced with a specific medium, especially one that has higher barriers to entry in terms of complexity or needing to host offsite, and would like to offer to help.
• Subject expertise: If you're willing to be a resource on a particular subject, you can offer to answer questions without offering to full-on beta anyone's work.

Comments

Beta Offer -- first draft/plot workshopping

[fencesit]

Your AO3 username: fencesit

What fandoms? You can find a list of fandoms I'm familiar with here but for this beta request I will beta any non-RPF fandom as long as you don't mind canon-blind advice. I'm willing to read a couple wiki pages or something if necessary.

What kind of betaing? My best skill as a beta is reworking outlines and rough drafts to incorporate new subplots, make the existing plot more complex, or to otherwise get more wordcount on a second revision. If you have a fic that you like but you think something is missing and/or you need it to be longer but don't know how, I am the kind of beta you want! I'm also really good at helping develop and incorporate worldbuilding, working out why an argument between two characters doesn't feel resolved, figuring out what should be scene and what should be summary, deciding on narrative distance stuff (what POV to use and why, omniscient vs limited, please especially hit me up for second person), and other adjustments like that.

You should definitely should line a different beta up to check for SPAG; I will not notice or judge your typos unless it makes something confusing.

Anything you won't beta? Suicidal ideation, car crashes, graphic torture, underage sex scenes, necrophilia, anything with bodily waste. For the first three items, if they aren't a major theme and you can just snip them out of the copy you send me, that's probably fine! I am also probably not the best beta for your 10k PWP fic, but like...I'll try it out if you want!

Expected availability and turnaround time? Turnaround time depends on how deep of a beta job you want! If you're sending me an outline or a rough draft, 3-5 days should be enough for me to send you back general notes and suggestions. If you're looking for more detailed feedback (eg, you want to know if your 10k second person fic has a consistent tone and point of view through the whole thing) then that'll take longer. I am more likely to suggest big changes than small changes, so in terms of availability your consideration there should probably be how much time you think you might need to rewrite.

BTW I will do this for Heart Attack and FFFX as well!

Contact? Dreamwidth DM or sitfence@gmail.com please! (If you're on Discord: we can move to Discord from there if you want but I have a really bad habit of reading Discord DMs right when I wake up or while I'm at work and then forgetting about them, which would be bad for this...)

Re: Reddit Discussion Page Workskin

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

Mod note: This work skin request was filled by a helpful participant before we made the above screened request public! Mysterious! Possibly due to certain Discord conversations! :D

Creator's note:

Hi there! I created a reddit skin in case you want to reveal it early. Hope it's useful to people.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33536812

[southerncontinentskies]

Your AO3 username: SouthernContinentSkies

What fandoms? Any fandom for SPAG-only; familiar canons for more intensive review include (but are not limited to!) Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Shadow and Bone (TV), all the Grishaverse books, The Witcher (TV), anything KJ Charles, James Bond (Craig movies), Temeraire (Naomi Novik), Vorkosigan Saga, Original Work.

What kind of betaing? SPAG, word choice/sentence-level flow, "help, this interaction/scene/piece of dialogue is awkward and I don't know why." I will almost certainly suggest mostly line edits or other very specific things; much more useful for a final or penultimate pass, rather than rough draft development.

Anything you won't beta? Underage (<16) sex, significant interactions with, or extensive descriptions of, insects (spiders are fine), corpses, blood, or poop.

Expected availability and turnaround time? Up to 10k, 4-5 days; over that, 5-7 days depending on how much over. The ~3 days immediately before deadline will likely not be available to be counted in that total, but happy to look things over between posting and reveals.

Contact? Dreamwidth DM or Darle#1189 on Discord. I do have a fandom email for document transfer, but I don't check it unless I expect to receive something.

Beta/Plot Help

[rubick]

Your AO3 username: Rubick

What fandoms? - Harry Potter, The Magicians (book or show), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, MCU, Boy Meets World, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Shadowhunters, Vampire Diaries, The Witcher, Mass Effect, OW

What kind of betaing? word choice, sentence structure, flow, minor SPaG (I kinda suck with commas), cheer reading. I can also help flesh out plots or bounce around story ideas/character arcs. With smut, I am happy to help make sure all the body parts are in the right places and no one takes off their shirt twice.

Anything you won't beta? Underage (<16) sex, bestiality, Gay-bashing/violent homophobia, Gore / Graphic violence, Rape / Non-con, blood / scat / piss, intense pain inflicted during sex (light is fine, but no blood/deep bruises/broken bones), humiliation during sex

Expected availability and turnaround time? Depends on the length, but typically within a week.

Contact? DM here on DW, or DM on discord (Rubi (Rubick)#3506) or email malevolentlighthouse@gmail.com.

Interactive media beta offer

[muggle95]

Your AO3 username: muggle95
What fandoms? any, as long as canon knowledge isn't required. Willing to read a page or two of wiki if necessary.
What kind of betaing? This beta offer is for any* interactive medium (logic grid puzzles, crochet chart or pattern, online dress up game, etc) - if you want to make sure that the puzzle is solveable or the pattern can be followed by someone else, or similar before submitting it as a gift.
Anything you won't beta? *I haven't knit since I was nine or ten, but if you want to make sure your knitting pattern/chart is accessible to absolute beginners I can give it a whirl
Additionally, if I offer to beta regular writing gifts, I'll make a separate post. I'm not offering that sort of beta reading in this post.
I will beta choose-your-own-adventure style fic if requested but I'll comment only on the interactive part/ease of use rather than specific comments on the writing/style (this option may require temporary co-authorship of your final ao3 work so i can test the links between chapters. I won't change anything and I'll remove myself after)
For recipes: no spirits/cocktails (wine in entree sauces, or beer in bread/breading is fine)
Expected availability and turnaround time?
Availability: no time is particularly better or worse than any other time. I can predictably get more review done on weekends than weekdays, but it averages out. However I probably won't be available the last 2-3 days before the main fiab deadline. I'll be available again after that deadline.
Turnaround:

• For logic grid puzzles, turnaround a day or two, regardless of size. Feedback will come in the form of highlighting ambiguities or impossible situations, or identifying an unsolveable grid. Assuming the puzzle was solveable as desired, I can also provide an estimate of difficulty (how it would be rated when included in a magazine or app of other logic grid puzzles)


• For dress up games: turnaround 2-3 days. Feedback will come in the form of: was it easy to use (yes/no) and could I make anything strange and undesirable happen? (eg shirt rendered too far to the side, so the sleeve is on the character's stomach and their arm is bare)


• For choose-your-own-adventure works, turnaround ~1 week, depending on length and complexity. Possibly up to 10 days for very long or very complex examples. Feedback will include commentary on ease of use and identifying story-loops (ie literally going back to a chapter you've already visited - can omit this if you aren't trying to avoid them). Feedback will not include comments on plot/spag/style of the story parts unless otherwise negotiated.


• For yarn crafts, (crochet, knitting) it depends on the size of the finished product. turnaround expect at least one day per 300 stitches. Feedback will come in the form of: notes on anywhere in the pattern I got confused and photos of the finished product (i already have yarn in many colors and polyfill, but i may substitute similar colors depending on what your pattern calls for, so that i don't have to buy anything new for the purpose of beta-ing. For example, I don't have twelve shades of brown for different skin tones, so amigurumi of human characters is likely to be adjusted to beige or medium-brown skin, with no in between and nothing darker. This is really a check of does your pattern turn out the expected shape when someone else follows it, and may not be color-perfect)


• recipes: turnaround ~one week because I'll need time to work around family meal plans and grocery runs. No cocktails. Otherwise I can test anything unless it requires absurdly expensive ingredients (eg whole black truffles), custom molds (i have basic ones for cupcakes/muffins and mini donuts), or decoration that requires a piping bag with specific tips (i can do simple piping in the form of a ziploc bag with the corner cut off). Feedback will include commentary on ease of following instructions and whether it turned out as expected (warning, I live at high altitude and will follow your recipe to the letter instead of adapting times/temperatures or anything else. Risen breads/cakes/etc and microwaved products may turn out a little different than at sea level.


• other interactive media I've forgotten is in the tagset: ask and I'll come up with an estimate for turnaround

Contact? Email muggle @ schmockermountain.rocks
Discord @ muggle#1346
Matrix @ mschmocker:glitchiest.town
gmail address available if necessary for sharing through google drive.
Discord or Matrix preferred

[scansionictus]

Your AO3 username: (exactly as it appears on your sign up, if you've signed up — this is to make sure your own recip doesn't accidentally ask you to beta your own gift) ictus

What fandoms? DCU (comics), various DCEU, Star Trek: AOS, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Inception, Hannibal, Zone Blanche, plus lots of live-action films and series. I'm more than happy to beta canon-blind and will happily beta OW.

What kind of betaing? I can beta any written media (fic, meta, IF, etc.). I'm best with works that are around 5k or less, although I'm happy to be a bit flexible (so if your work is 6k then feel free to ask). I can do basic SPAG plus offer feedback on pacing, flow, plot, and characterisation. I can also offer smut workshopping so if you're stuck on a sex scene or if you can't make your OTP kiss, then I can help! Will happily beta PWPs.

Anything you won't beta? M/F works, underage (under 15), shipfic written in 1st person POV (epistolary is fine). Please warn me if your work contains homophobia (including internalised homophobia).

Expected availability and turnaround time? I aim for 48hrs but this is extremely dependent on my work schedule—please ask if it's urgent. I can always get it done in an evening, it's just a question of whether or not I have a free evening.

Contact? nonanonamcbiba@gmail.com or ictus#9826 on discord!