Challenges and Games (draft post)

[sholio]

Okay, this is a preliminary post with a list of (COMPLETELY OPTIONAL) challenges based loosely on the themed challenges in the Star Wars May the 4th exchange, but with a very Agent Carter twist! Thanks to kore for helping me brainstorm these. :)

Feedback is very welcome. Is this too confusing? Too much? I decided to drop one part of what kore and I talked about, which was allowing participants to ask for prompts from a list of Peggy's spy gadgets and Howard's inventions - I started working on lists of those and was eventually like "... this is too much. XD" Too much for me as the mod, and possibly just too much additional complication to the exchange itself.

Actually, in general, when you look under the cut, do you think there are too many options? There is A LOT, and if we had to drop a few things out, it might make the whole list more manageable.

The idea is, to "win" each challenge we need to have at least that many fanworks that meet the criteria in the collection when it goes live on June 8th. This is exchange-wide, not individual, and there are no prizes (though I'll see if I can come up with something special if we get at least a few of these). One fanwork can fulfill multiple challenges if it fits all the criteria, e.g. a femslash vid would fill both Silver Screen and Ladies Night, and possibly others depending on its content.


List of Challenges

Silver Screen: 2+ vids
Howard's Terrifying Series of Wall Portraits: 5+ artworks

Couples Events
Ladies Night: 8+ F/F
Gentleman's Club: 5+ M/M
Tracy & Hepburn: 5+ F/M
Swing Your Partner: 3+ poly
Hays Code: 10+ gen

Success levels for treats
A "treat" is an extra fanwork in addition to a participant's actual gift
Distinguished Service Cross: 5+ treats
Navy Cross: 10+ treats
Medal of Honor: Everyone who signed up has a treat

Call Sheets:
- 1+ fanwork set in a character's past
- 1+ fanwork set in a character's future, at least 10 years post-show
- 1+ fanwork set during WWII

Location Scouting:
- 1+ fanwork set in London
- 1+ fanwork set in the USSR
- 1+ fanwork set in a state or country that has never appeared in the show
- 1+ fanwork using a real place in New York or L.A.

Terrors from the Labs

Peggy's Spy Kit: 3+ fanworks including spy gadgets
(Peggy's wiki entry has an incomplete list - scroll down to "Espionage Gear." You can use a canonical one, make up your own, or borrow from other shows/books/movies like James Bond, Get Smart, Batman, etc.)

Howard's Lab: 2+ fanworks including Howard's inventions
(There is a list of Howard's inventions at his wiki entry - scroll down to "Howard Stark's Designs". You can use a canonical one or make up your own.)

Creature Feature: 2+ fanworks including B-movie monsters (e.g. werewolves, zombies, Godzilla, etc)
(The 2018 Spook Me creature list is a good source for these!)

Other creative inspiration
Purple Heart: 5+ fanworks involving hurt/comfort
Cameos: 2+ crossovers or fusions
Perils of Pauline: 3+ fanworks involving daring rescues or characters tied to railroad tracks/time bombs/etc.
La Brea Tar Pits: 1+ fanwork involving time travel or time loops (or the actual La Brea Tar Pits)
USO Tour: 1+ fanwork involving show business
Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines: 1+ fanwork involving airplanes
Star Spangled Man with a Plan: 2+ fanworks involving Steve Rogers
Rogers & Hammerstein: 1+ fanwork heavily featuring music of the era, or dealing with the musical interlude in the show
Star Sightings: 1+ fanwork including real historical figure(s) - spycraft, stars, etc.
Flappin' at the Flamingo: 1+ fanwork involving Bernard. Virtual bonus points if Jarvis has to chase Bernard. Or Bernard chases Jarvis.


Thoughts?

Remember, ALL OF THIS IS OPTIONAL. If you're thinking any of this looks too complicated to be fun, don't worry, all you really need to focus on is your assignment! But I'm also open to ideas for streamlining and simplifying if this looks too complicated to be fun for anyone.

And there will also be discussion posts, posts to offer plot bunnies/prompts (like last year), and that kind of thing once we get underway.

Comments

[sheron]

I'm not sure that I will be able to participate in the challenges given my travel schedule in spring, but I really like the looks of it from this vantage point :)

[sholio]

Well, you're bound to be participating in at least one of them anyway, since it's impossible NOT to have your fic qualify for at least one of the "couples" challenges (unless you manage to write something that's not gen, F/F, F/M, M/M, or poly - and if you do manage that, I think you should get a special award for creativity XD).

[sheron]

I mean actively aiming for, here, mostly. but yes :)

[(Anonymous)]

I can think of some kind of works that could not fit gen, F/F, F/M, M/M, or poly. :p For example, what if [character] has sex with tentacles? Or themselves in the privacy of their room? :D

[sholio]

Hahaha! Maybe I should add a category for 1+ fic that don't fit any of the other pairing categories. XD

[truth_renowned]

I love this idea! These are fun challenges and I'll do my best to hit at least a few!

[sholio]

Yay! \o/ I'll post a list over on Tumblr as well; I just wanted to get some feedback on whether folks thought it was a workable idea first.

[chelseagirl]

I've never done a challenge before, and I'm not quite sure I understand how it works. Is this to encourage us to write extra fics beyond our assignments, or just to fit as many of these as possible into our one story? I do rather like the idea of writing extras; would they be treats for other recipients, in that case, or just random stories attached to the exchange?

I like a lot of the categories; I do think it would be easier to take a lot of these as inspiration than to try to shoehorn them into one story.

[sholio]

Both, really - though MUCH more for inspiration than, as you said, trying to shoehorn them into one story! I definitely don't want to give the impression that people have to try to fit anything into their story that doesn't work there. On the other hand, if you were stuck for inspiration and browsing these thinking "... well, if I wrote a story with an airplane in it, it'd qualify for one of these!" - that's the kind of thing I'm hoping for. :D

Extras would preferably be treats, but I don't see any reason why you can't write additional stories and attach them to the exchange, particularly if you were trying to hit certain challenges and nobody's prompts matched!

But it's definitely not in any way required and shouldn't override the needs of whatever story you're writing.

Make sense?

[chelseagirl]

Yes!

So at some point everyone's requests will be available? I don't know why I'm so convinced I will be writing multiple stories, but hope springs whatnot. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

Not mod, but just wanted to mention that you can already can see all the requests at this link :)

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SSR_Confidential_2018/requests

[chelseagirl]

Thanks!

[sholio]

What the anon said. :) And treats are 10000% welcome. :D

[chelseagirl]

Thanks!