blackboxexchange | Schedule, Rules, FAQ

Black Box Exchange is a gift exchange for theatre, opera, and ballet canons. Those participating must create either a story of at least 1,000 words, or a nice sketch that is not on lined paper, and will receive a 1,000 word story or non-lined paper sketch.

Find at AO3 here
2021 Tag Set

You can contact the mod at blackboxexmod [at] gmail [dot] com!

General schedule (all times EST):
Nominations: June 7-June 14 (both 10am EST)
Signups: June 17-June 24 (both 10am EST)
Assignments: No later than June 27 (3pm EST)
Due date: Aug 7 (8pm EST)
Reveals: Aug 14 (3pm EST)
Creator reveals: Aug 21 (3pm EST)

Nominations
Only theatre (including musicals), opera, and ballet canons, in any languages, will be allowed into this exchange. All other nominations will be rejected.

Nominations will open for the AO3 collection’s tagset on 7 June.

Black Box highly encourages any of you who are interested in nominating a specific production of a show to do so – but does not require you to do so. If you're interested in this, please do the following:

Ex: To nominate Jean Valjean from the Dallas 2014 production of Les Miserables, insert the canonical tag Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil and nominate the character Jean Valjean (Dallas 2014 Les Mis).

Please include the location of the show so it's easier for people to find the production or even know what you're talking about – so, the Met Opera, Paris Opera Ballet, or Broadway Cast – as well as the year of the specific production. This will make it easier for people to track down your specific production and write you something with that level of specificity.

As we all know, there are some shows that share names – please clarify within your parenthetical! There are several different Macbeths, Turandots, etc. Include the creator name before the name of the show – ex: Verdi Macbeth.

Groups (relationships that are either platonic [indicated with an &] or romantic [indicated with a /]) are also allowed, and may also include parenthetical production specifiers as listed above, if you so choose. Please nominate these groups as you would a character, as such: Group: Javert & Valjean; Group: Javert/Valjean

The & and the / are integral to this – ex: if only Javert & Valjean get nominated, you will not be able to match on Javert/Valjean – and if you request Javert/Valjean in your optional details upon matching with Javert & Valjean, your creator will have every right to ignore the request for a romantic relationship.

Crossover pairings/groups (between theatre/opera/ballet canons) are also allowed. Please nominate these under the fandom Crossover Fandom – and be prepared that I may need you to clarify. Specific production parentheticals may also be included here, but are not required. Ex: Group: Javert (Dallas 2014 Les Mis)/Macbeth (Met 2014 Verdi Macbeth). Any nominations that include a non-theatre/opera/ballet character will be rejected.

You may also nominate the characters or relationships from the canon alone - so, “Jean Valjean” without any such frills.

Due to this option (that we expect many of you to take) you will be able to nominate 10 fandoms and 10 characters or groups within those fandoms.

As worldbuilding and original characters from within the canon universe will be allowed to be requested, you may nominate a fandom purely for these purposes. Please format these nominations as such: Worldbuilding – Romeo & Juliet; Original Character(s) – Romeo & Juliet.

Signups
All participants are required to request at least four (with a maximum of ten) fandoms, with a minimum of one and maximum of ten characters or groups per request, that they’re interested in receiving a gift for, but are only obligated to create one fanwork in a fandom they match on including at least one character they have matched on as well. You will be requesting and offering a show, opera, or ballet in its general tag, and may request and offer characters or groups from specific productions within the tagset as well as the general character or group tags (which must also be nominated). You must offer at least four (with a maximum of ten) fandoms to create a work for, with a minimum of one character or group offered and a maximum of ten.

Following signups, we will match participants based on offers and requests, and send out assignments. Participants have about eight weeks to create a fanwork that fits the minimum criteria (but can, of course, exceed it!).

Stories must be posted to the Black Box collection on AO3 by the deadline of 7 August, where they will automatically appear as anonymous "Mystery Gifts" for the recipients.

On 14 August, the stories will be revealed, with the authors listed as anonymous; any comments the authors make on their own works will be listed as made by Anonymous Creator until authors are revealed 21 August.

On 21 August, all authors will be revealed.

If I don’t want to sign up, how can I still participate?

You can beta-read, cheerlead, write additional gifts as treats, or pinch-hit.

Requests
You have to request stories in at least four fandoms. You can ask for up to ten fandoms if you want.

You can request between 1 and 10 nominated characters or groups for each fandom. If you’re all right with a story for ANY character or group nominated, you can request “any.” If you are not interested in a story about one of the nominated characters, do not choose any - you may get something you’re not interested in!

You are not required to request only characters or groups from specific productions! If you’re only interested in the general characters or relationships between them in a show from the original text, feel free to only request those.

For each fandom you can request fanart, fanfiction, or both.

Sign-up Details
You may add any details in your sign-up for what you’d like to see in your gift. This is totally optional for you to include, and totally optional for your assigned creator to follow. Your writer is only required to follow your fandom, character choice, and to avoid any DNW (do not want) you have listed.

Just in case: for the purposes of this exchange you may not DNW a specific production’s portrayal that you may have matched on purely to get an unnominated production. If you are NOT interested in a specific production, and prefer to get a completely different production, take the time to nominate the one you want. You can, however, DNW a specific production's portrayal if you have matched on the general character or groups tags.

Another just in case: a reminder as well that this is a theatre/opera/ballet exchange, and it is not in the spirit of the exchange to request non-theatre/opera/ballet characters or canons within your optional details. Please stick to the theme of the challenge, thank you. <3

What should be in my details?
Whatever you want. These details are meant to give your creator an idea of what fanwork you would like. Feel free to talk about characters you’ve requested, what you like and don’t like, characters you might be interested in that weren’t nominated, any thoughts you have on crossovers, plot ideas or prompts, and any kinks you might want or DNW. Please include DNWs if they are important to you. None of this is required for you to write, and, again, the only thing your creator has to follow are your DNWs.

“Dear Creator” Letters
These are letters posted to blogs, journals, or other spaces where text can be saved to give your creator more information about what you like, dislike, more detailed prompts, or what you might enjoy about the canon or chosen production.

This is entirely optional as well, and you as a creator are free to ignore your recipient’s letter besides any DNWs included. Any story that includes a DNW will be rejected and the recipient will be sent to pinch-hit.

If you’ve written a letter, please include it in your signup.

Offers
You have to offer to create in at least four fandoms. You can offer a total of ten fandoms.

In each fandom, you have to offer between 1 to 10 nominated characters or groups.You can also offer "Any" characters, but this does mean ANY character. Be sure you are ready to write any character in that fandom in the tagset.

Please specify whether you’re interested in creating fanart, fanfic, or both, with the appropriate tag(s).

Am I able to change my signup after submitting it?
As long as the signup period is still open, yes. On your AO3 page, click on "Signups" in the left-hand navigation pane, and your signup for Black Box should be available to edit.

Can I switch my assignment?
For the most part, assignments can’t be changed. If there was an error on AO3’s part in matching, let the mods know as soon as you can. You’re free to contact the mod, but it is unlikely your assignment can be switched. If you truly feel you can’t fulfill your assignment, you have the option of defaulting on your assignment, though you may not get a gift.

How do I post my story?
On your Assignment page on AO3, under the “Assignment” links on your Profile page, you should see two buttons at the bottom of the assignment - “post to fulfill,” and “default.” Once you click “Post to fulfill,” you’ll be directed to the posting form, which will automatically post the fic and tags you’re uploading to the current year’s challenge with your recipient’s name already filled in.

To post a treat, go to the current challenge page on AO3, click on “post to collection” under the title, and this will direct you to a posting form with the challenge collection name already filled in. You must fill in the recipient’s name manually, and fill the rest of the page out normally.

Defaulting
If you can’t finish in time, you can default on your assignment. This will let the mods know they need to send out a pinch-hit so the recipient can get a story in time for the exchange to open.

To default, go to your Assignment page on AO3; you will see two buttons at the bottom of your assignment: “post to fulfill,” and “default.”

Once you click the default button, a popup will ask you to confirm this choice. This will notify the mods, who will seek a pinch-hitter.

Once you default, you are no longer required to create something for your recipient, but you are not guaranteed a gift.

Currently, there are no penalties for defaulting.

Pinch Hits
Pinch-hits are assignments that the creator originally assigned has defaulted on, or initial assignments that could not be matched. As people default or assignments are not matched, these will be posted on the community to be claimed by a different creator.

If you are interested in taking a pinch-hit, please comment on the post where the pinch-hit is listed with your AO3 name. Your comment will be screened and you will be told whether the assignment has gone to you; if so, you will receive an email from AO3 with your assignment shortly. If you are not signed up but take a pinch-hit, you will not receive a gift.

The deadlines on pinch-hits will vary depending on how late they go out. Pinch-hits posted later are likely to get extended deadlines.

Your pinch-hit will be posted the same as any other assignment; see above on how to do so.