2012 USxUK SECRET SANTA

Here it is, everyone...our fourth annual Secret Santa!



Please read all the information carefully, sign up, and SPREAD THE WORD. Invite your friends to participate if they're not already members!

What 'Secret Santa Exchange' Means: You create a fanwork, and you'll receive one in return. Everyone who wishes to participate will provide a few prompts that they'd like to see completed, and another community member will be assigned their prompts and will complete one of those (which one is completed is up to the person they're assigned to). When you submit your prompts, you are welcome (and encouraged) to tell me anything you are uncomfortable with or don't wish to do (pairings, genre, rating, etc), that way the prompts you're given are something you're comfortable writing/drawing.

Onto the detailed information!

  • All fanworks must be USxUK. This is not a general Hetalia fic/art exchange. It is for this pairing. Their relationship should be the focus. Other pairings may be included in your prompt (for example, it is allowed to ask for a fic that's USxUK with some SpainxRomano), but again, USxUK focused.


  • Can I ask for ____? You can ask for whatever you want- rating, genre, etc. However, please keep in mind that if you're asking for something super unusual, you might want to provide some broader prompts as well.


  • How long do I have to signup? Signups will end on 11/20/12 (a Tuesday). Assignments will be sent out by 11/27/12 (a Tuesday). I will do reminders. That gives you about ten days to sign up. YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THIS COMMUNITY TO SIGN UP.


  • When is the deadline? Please have your piece completed and posted by 1/20/13 (yes this gift exchange WILL run late since it was posted a month late). In that manner I suppose it's more of a winter exchange, but we'll keep the old name. You may post your fanwork any time after 12/01/12. For deadlines, I'll be using my timezone, which is US Central Standard. You can see that here.


  • How do I post it? I'll put up the posting format later, but you just post it directly to the community. You may put it below an lj-cut or link off community (to a writing journal, ff.net, deviantart, etc).


  • How long does fic have to be? At least eight hundred words. It doesn't need to be super-long of course, but we want everyone to get something that's more than drabble length.


  • Are there any extra requirements for the art? Aside from the stipulations listed above for both fic and art, no. It can be done in any medium (digital, colored pencil, copic, sketch, etc). Just remember that this is a gift, so it should look like a complete piece of art, whichever way you go about that.


  • Can I do fancomics or chapterfics? Yes. Absolutely. We have some additional rules regarding fancomics and chapterfics. I'll be doing another post about this closer to the deadline (in order to see who is taking advantage of them), but you can see what they are here.


  • What types of prompts should I give? Prompts can be anything from something vague like "America and England with butterflies," "America and England go on a picnic" to something specific like "I'd like to see a piece about America and England dealing with their differences over the Suez Canal Crisis. Angst is likely to occur, and that's fine. But I want a happy ending, and possibly, to see their relationship actually develop to the next level."


  • I have another question. Then please ask it in reply here, private message me, or email it to me at everything.is.magic AT gmail.com.


  • What if I need to drop out? Then I would ask you to please let me know as soon as possible so we can arrange a pinch hitter for you.


  • Okay, I'm ready to signup! Great, here's a sample form. Just reply to THIS post with your form. You can use the handy dandy provided html. Comments are screened.


    GIVING:
    Username:
    Email:
    Specialty (Fanfic or Fanart- If you can do both, you may list both):
    Highest Rating You'll Work With:
    Will Not Work With (Any characters, pairings, genres, scenarios, you won't do):

    RECEIVING:
    Do Not Want (Any characters, pairings, ratings, genres, scenarios, etc you don't want to receive):
    Do You Prefer fic, art, or no preference?:
    Country names, human names, or no preference?:
    Three Prompts. If all your prompts are fic only (as opposed to prompts that are able to work for both fic and art), and you're willing to receive art, please add a fourth prompt for art. Same goes for if all of your prompts are art, please add a fourth for fic if you're willing to receive fic:

    Can you pinch hit if someone drops out?:




    YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST FILL OUT THE ENTIRE FORM. THANK YOU.

    We hope to see many of you participating!
    -[livejournal.com profile] haro
abarero: (Normal-41)
[personal profile] abarero2012-08-04 12:46 am

Coming Soon to a USxUK comm near you...


August 6th-August 12th


For fun and photoshopped medals in Icon Diving, Fanfiction Sprints, Doujinshi Scanathon, Art-chery, Gif-astics, FST Freestyle and the Olympic Village Games.

[AD] USUK Spanish event!


If you speak Spanish and love USUK,
then this event was made for you!


====================

Hi! Right now we're holding a secret friend event at the [livejournal.com profile] hambuscone community.
Would you like to enter?


====================

» Click here for more information about this event «

[MOD POST] 2012 SWEETHEARTS WEEK!



Hello everyone! It's time to announce our project for Valentine's Day this year. Yep, for the third year in a row, we'll be celebrating Sweethearts Week, a week long celebration of USxUK love, complete with prizes and the works. We hope that as many people as possible participate! It starts on Wednesday, February 8th and ends the next Tuesday, February 14th.

The object of the project is for members to collect 'Valentines.' Valentines will be passed out by mods in reply to posts that have earned them. There are several ways in which to earn Valentines, and there's no limit to the amount of Valentines you can collect. Members who collect the most Valentines will be awarded prizes.

How do I earn Valentines?

One Valentine Per:
1. Doujinshi scanned- less than thirty-five pages
2. Doujinshi scanlated- less than twenty pages
3. Fan Video (Your creation. Linking to MAD videos does not count.)
4. Significant sized icon/graphics batch (Twenty-five plus icons, Five plus headers/wallpapers/banners, Three plus manga colors)
5. Fanfic of less than one thousand words completed on day’s theme. Fic must be at least five hundred words to qualify for a Valentine.
6. Fanart, black and white or monochromatic, completed on day's theme. Obvious work should be put into this. Please no quick doodles, like mochi in the margin of your notebooks or something you threw together in five minutes in MSPaint.
7. FST (fan soundtrack)
8. Something else? Ask in reply here, and we'll let you know if it qualifies or not.

Two Valentines Per:
1. Doujinshi scanned- more than thirty-five pages
2. Doujinshi scanlated- more than twenty pages
3. Fan Video (Your creation. Linking to MAD videos does not count. This is at moderator discretion. A slideshow will not get you two Valentines, but a personally illustrated or created MAD video will, for example.)
4. Significant sized icon/graphics batch (Fifty plus icons, ten plus wallpapers/banners/headers, six plus manga colors)
5. Fanfic of more than one thousand words completed on day’s theme.
6. Fanart, full color, or fancomic (does not need to be colored) of more than one page, completed on day's theme. Obvious work should be put into these.

Is there anything that can earn more Valentines than that? There's always room for exceptions. If someone writes a 10k fic for a theme, does a lengthy inked comic, personally illustrates an elaborate MAD video, etc., you just may get an extra Valentine or few. It will be at mod discretion, but we promise we'll be fair with this.

Everything posted must be NEW. It cannot be a fan video you made two months ago, or a doujinshi you posted to [livejournal.com profile] hetalia, but have yet to post here. It needs to be unposted material. There is no limit to how much you can post.

For fic writers and artists, we've compiled a list of seven fairly broad themes to challenge yourselves with! Completing a fanwork for one of these themes will earn you Valentine(s). The catch is that the fanwork must be posted on the day of the theme; i.e. if you write a fic for the 'close to you' theme, it has to be posted by the end of Tuesday. You can post it on a later day, but it won't earn you any Valentines. We're showing you the themes in advance so you can get started now! We're not going to be stringent on time zones. As long as it is posted before GMT -11 hours hits midnight, it's good. That's the last time zone to pass into the next day. Here's a world clock to keep track of that.

You may do AS MANY pieces of fic or art for each theme as you wish. Each one will earn one or two Valentines (or more), depending on the above stipulations. Other Valentine-earners (i.e. doujinshi scans) outside of fic and art do not need to fit the theme.

I'll be posting at the beginning of each day to remind you what the daily theme is.

Fic/Art Daily Themes:
8th: Close to You
Fic or art must feature physical contact of any sort between our two boys- hugging, kissing, intimacy, hand-holding, you name it. We wanted to start out with something simple for you all.

9th: Once Upon a Time
Fic or art must feature aspects of fairy tales, legends, mythology, folklore, etc. Whether it's an AU storyline based on a legend, fairytale, or featuring magic, a canonverse piece featuring mythological creatures or England's magical friends, or whatever. Go wild!

10th: Taking Care of Business
It's time for work! America and England in a work setting or participating in your occupation of choice for them. It can be canonverse with them at world meetings, on the battlefield, etc., or it can be AU with them doing... whatever you wish. Both of them do not need to be working (i.e. America as a vet and England as someone bringing his pet in), and they're welcome to be off the clock as well, as long as their occupation is made clear in the piece.

11th: Holidaymaking
Because no one wants all work and no play, how about some rest and leisure. Anything that the boys might do in their off time is welcome here. Whether it's something big like an international vacation, or something small like sharing popcorn while watching tv on the couch, this is for what the boys do in their free time.

12th: Music of My Heart
Because what's finer than music? Music or dance of any sort is the tentpole of this theme. Whether someone is in a band, they're singing or dancing together, or they're just listening to music, anything is fine! Just as long as music or dance is somehow involved.

13th: Worlds Beyond
Fic or art must be alternate universe, alternate reality, or crossover. Gakuen and Fantasia, despite being canon AUs, do qualify for this theme. Alternate reality refers to exploring a deviation from canon. In Hetalia, this may also be called alternate history. Crossovers are pretty self-explanatory; it just needs to feature characters or settings from another canon. Fusion fic/art (i.e. drawing the characters in clothing from another canon) is welcome here as well.

14th: Valentine’s Day
This is pretty basic. Your fic or art just needs to be about Valentine's Day. It does not need to take place on the holiday, but Valentine's Day should at least be an element of the story.

Pieces can be any genre, any rating, etc. Except for Worlds Beyond (au only), fic and art can be either canon or alternate universe for all the themes. Character variants such as Nekotalia or Nyotalia are allowed.

Now as for the prizes!

Obviously, the members who earn the MOST Valentines are the winners here. We will be awarding at least the top three (last year we awarded more). If there is a tie, we will draw for the winner.

There will be a selection of prizes to pick from. First place winner gets to pick a prize first, then second, then third.

THERE WILL ALSO BE A RAFFLE DRAWING.

ANYONE can enter this. I'll be setting up a post, and you must comment if you wish to be a part of it. A name will be picked at random (of course), and that person will be allowed to choose a prize. We may award more than one raffle prize like we did last year.

Prizes will be the following:
1- USxUK Doujinshi (these will not all be R-18, so don't worry if you don't want porn)
2- Yesasia and CDJapan gift certificates
3- LJ Paid Accounts
4- Other misc. ideas we may come up with.

We've designed the prizes to hopefully appeal to everyone. We know that some people may not be able to receive prizes in the mail, and that's why we're offering up the gift certificates as well.

Reply here if you have any questions!

We hope you're all excited for this project, and that a lot of you decide to participate in helping our favorite special relationship celebrate the holiday of romance together. This project is all about spreading USxUK love, so regardless of whether you win a prize or not, you're a winner just for participating and doing that! ♥

-[livejournal.com profile] haro

P.S.- We do welcome prize donations if you have anything you'd like to donate. Recently, we had an amazing anonymous benefactor donate a substantial chunk of money to our community, which we will be able to use to help provide prizes and goodies for our projects. I can't thank her enough for her donation (as well, I can't be thankful enough for donations from ANY member)!

2011 USxUK SECRET SANTA

Here it is, everyone...our third annual Secret Santa!



Please read all the information carefully, sign up, and SPREAD THE WORD. Invite your friends to participate if they're not already members!

What 'Secret Santa Exchange' Means: You create a fanwork, and you'll receive one in return. Everyone who wishes to participate will provide a few prompts that they'd like to see completed, and another community member will be assigned their prompts and will complete one of those (which one is completed is up to the person they're assigned to). When you submit your prompts, you are welcome (and encouraged) to tell me anything you are uncomfortable with or don't wish to do (pairings, genre, rating, etc), that way the prompts you're given are something you're comfortable writing/drawing.

Onto the detailed information!

  • All fanworks must be USxUK. This is not a general Hetalia fic/art exchange. It is for this pairing. Their relationship should be the focus. Other pairings may be included in your prompt (for example, it is allowed to ask for a fic that's USxUK with some SpainxRomano), but again, USxUK focused.


  • Can I ask for ____? You can ask for whatever you want- rating, genre, etc. However, please keep in mind that if you're asking for something super unusual, you might want to provide some broader prompts as well.


  • How long do I have to signup? Signups will end on 10/20/11 (a Thursday). Assignments will be sent out by 11/01/11 (a Tuesday). I will do reminders. That gives you over two weeks to sign up. YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THIS COMMUNITY TO SIGN UP.


  • When is the deadline? Please have your piece completed and posted by 12/24/11. You may post your fanwork any time after 12/01/11. For deadlines, I'll be using my timezone, which is US Central Standard. You can see that here.


  • How do I post it? I'll put up the posting format later, but you just post it directly to the community. You may put it below an lj-cut or link off community (to a writing journal, ff.net, deviantart, etc).


  • How long does fic have to be? At least eight hundred words. It doesn't need to be super-long of course, but we want everyone to get something that's more than drabble length.


  • Are there any extra requirements for the art? Aside from the stipulations listed above for both fic and art, no. It can be done in any medium (digital, colored pencil, copic, sketch, etc). Just remember that this is a gift, so it should look like a complete piece of art, whichever way you go about that.


  • Can I do fancomics or chapterfics? Yes. Absolutely. We have some additional rules regarding fancomics and chapterfics. I'll be doing another post about this closer to the deadline (in order to see who is taking advantage of them), but you can see what they are here.


  • What types of prompts should I give? Prompts can be anything from something vague like "America and England with butterflies," "America and England go on a picnic" to something specific like "I'd like to see a piece about America and England dealing with their differences over the Suez Canal Crisis. Angst is likely to occur, and that's fine. But I want a happy ending, and possibly, to see their relationship actually develop to the next level."


  • I have another question. Then please ask it in reply here, private message me, or email it to me at everything.is.magic AT gmail.com.


  • What if I need to drop out? Then I would ask you to please let me know as soon as possible so we can arrange a pinch hitter for you.


  • Okay, I'm ready to signup! Great, here's a sample form. Just reply to THIS post with your form. You can use the handy dandy provided html. Comments are screened.


    GIVING:
    Username:
    Email:
    Specialty (Fanfic or Fanart- If you can do both, you may list both):
    Highest Rating You'll Work With:
    Will Not Work With (Any characters, pairings, genres, scenarios, you won't do):

    RECEIVING:
    Do Not Want (Any characters, pairings, ratings, genres, scenarios, etc you don't want to receive):
    Do You Prefer fic, art, or no preference?:
    Country names, human names, or no preference?:
    Three Prompts. If all your prompts are fic only (as opposed to prompts that are able to work for both fic and art), and you're willing to receive art, please add a fourth prompt for art. Same goes for if all of your prompts are art, please add a fourth for fic if you're willing to receive fic:

    Can you pinch hit if someone drops out?:




    YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST FILL OUT THE ENTIRE FORM. THANK YOU.

    We hope to see many of you participating!
    -[livejournal.com profile] haro

[Mod Post] Writing Project Update

Hello everyone! A month or so ago we mentioned a writer's project that will be running somewhat concurrently with the calendar project. We're still doing this project! ...But we have decided to postpone it for a few months.

This is why:
-It would HEAVILY conflict with the Secret Santa. The calendar really doesn't because art needs to be in by early November, and that's when Secret Santa assignments get sent out. However this project would end up with a due date of December most likely, and that's Secret Santa time.
-The project does also require some artists (spoiler- it's a doujinshi 'novel' project, and we'd like for each story to have one black and white illustration). Many artists are busy with the calendar, and starting in November many will be busy with our Secret Santa.

So this is how it is going to work, tentatively:
Calendar Project-
Early November- Art completed and preorders open.
Secret Santa-
October first- Signups open
Early November- Assignments go out
December 1-25- Posting Period
USxUK 'Short Story Collection' Fanfiction Project-
Early January- Info and signups posted
Early March- Fics due
Early March- Artist signups
Early April- Art due
Early May- Book Release

Sweethearts Week will fall during February, of course, but as it's only one week, we don't think it should interrupt too much. :D

Quick note- The short story collection WILL be available for free online, but we're also investigating possible printed copies of it for those who wish to order and own a hard copy.

I hope that all makes sense. We'll see you in two weeks for the Secret Santa signups!
-[livejournal.com profile] haro

Calendar Voting- RESULTS

We had about one hundred and fifty of you vote. It took quite some time to calculate the results, but here they are. There were SO MANY amazing artists. I wish that we could have accepted all of you. Please don't be discouraged if you weren't accepted. You're still great, and there will be many more projects for you to participate in in the future. There is such an outstanding amount of talent in this community, and we love it. ♥


And the winners are... )

ALL ACCEPTED ARTISTS: Please watch for an invite to [livejournal.com profile] usxukcalendar. This is just a community we set up so we don't clog this community with reminders and information posts for the artists. Please join this community and add it to your friends list. If you go here and do not see an invite, let me know and I'll get you one ASAP. If you do not have an lj account, please check your email for an email from me. Once you've done that, go to wait for me to make my first post. There you will find the month you have been assigned, and I'd also like if all artists could check in there.

Keep being the awesome community members you all are!
-[livejournal.com profile] haro

EDIT: One more order of business. I have had a couple of members request that I reveal the name of all auditioning artists. If you do not wish for me to reveal your name, please send me a PM and let me know, and I'll leave you out of the reveal.

[MOD POST] 2012 USxUK Calendar Audition Post

Okay, this is the last mod post of the night. XD For 2011, we put together our first ever USxUK calendar. It was a huge success, and we sold almost 130 copies of it. This year, we're going to do the same thing for 2012!

Last year we started off quite late, the calendar not really kicking into gear until November, but this year that won't be the case. The artists will have more time to complete their work, and preorders will be closed and the calendars ordered by the first of December. The calendar will be 8 1/2x11 inches when closed, and it should run about fourteen dollars (this was the price last year). You can see an image of last year's calendars here to get an idea.

Here is the audition post. Please read it carefully! If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

First and foremost, I had a few people ask me this last year, so I figured I'd get it out of the way:

Why auditions?

If I were just running this calendar myself, yes I could easily go and pick twenty-five of my favorite USxUK artists and ask them if they'd like to participate. But I'm not. This is a community project, and as such we feel it is fairest for the featured artists to be chosen by the members of the community. You all will be in charge of voting on and selecting the featured artists, because it is a calendar for all of you. I hope the audition process won't discourage anyone from participating. *^^*

This is what you'll need to provide:

-Name. Self explanatory.

-Email Address. The comments are screened, so you don't need to space it or anything. Just write it as is. It makes it easier for me to send emails.

-Do you have a website/deviantart/art journal? You may link this here if you wish, but it is not required.

-Please provide three samples of art. At least one sample must be Hetalia art (preferably OF America and England, although that is not necessary), and at least one sample must be a full color piece. Please choose art that you feel shows your skill! The art you complete to be featured in the calendar must be G-PG (kissing, cuddling, shirtlessness, etc are fine. But nothing risque), but you can use higher rated art for your samples. R-18 is fine for the audition. I would prefer you not use a piece you used in your audition last year, if you auditioned, but if it's absolutely necessary because you don't have three new pieces, that's fine. Also, pieces do not have to be drawn in 2011. They can be older if you wish. If you were in the calendar last year, do not use the piece you drew for it.

-Months you would be most interested in? Please list the THREE months you'd be most interested in drawing for, in order of preference. If you'd like to do the cover you can list that as one of your three as well. The piece you draw if accepted must be themed for whichever month you are assigned. It can be a holiday (i.e. a Halloween image for October), something associated with the month (i.e. April showers), or just something that fits the season (i.e. curling up because it's cold outside). You could even use a historical event as your backdrop. It's up to you! You're welcome to get creative as well. And no you don't need to tell me here what you have in mind right now. Just list the months. I will try my hardest to get everyone one of their preferred months, but I cannot promise it. If you were involved in the calendar last year, please do not list the month you ended up drawing for. We don't want the same person to be in charge of the same month two years in a row.

You will have two months to complete your art. I will send out your assignments by September tenth if you have been accepted, and you must get them in by November tenth. If you are accepted, you will also be invited to a community I've set up for the project. I've made this so I don't have to clog this community with announcements for the artists. All information- such as necessary dimensions for the piece (so it fits the calendar) and other specifics, will be posted there. ^^

TWENTY-FIVE ARTISTS will be accepted. Thirteen artists will be providing large-sized images (twelve months and a cover), and twelve artists will be in charge of smaller images, which will be featured in the corner of the 'months.'

AUDITIONS MUST BE IN BY TUESDAY AUGUST 30TH AT MIDNIGHT CST. This gives you two weeks, so if you wish to do something new for the audition, you do have some time. The voting post will go up on the 31st of August.

Lastly, feel free to link this to artists you think might be interested. There's always a chance they won't see this post, after all!

And authors, I know I mentioned a writing project. We'll be posting about that a bit later. We might not get to it until after Labor Day (US), but it will be up within the next few weeks (the deadlines on that one will be later, so don't worry).

COMMENTS ARE SCREENED.

Ready? Now fill out the form!



-[livejournal.com profile] haro

All accepted artists will receive a free calendar.
abarero: (Normal-123)
[personal profile] abarero2011-08-16 12:03 am

USxUK Friending Meme!

Figured we were long overdue for one of these, so...



In case you've never been involved in one of these- this it how it goes. Reply to this post with the survey below and link this post to your friendslist so more people will come post their survey. Then people will browse through the replies to see if there's anyone they'd like to friend. Then just reply to them and ask to friend. Simple as that!

That being said- start spreading the word and replying! And don't be shy, we won't bite ^.~

Name/Nickname:
Age:
Location:
Favorite Hetalia characters:
Favorite Hetalia pairings:
So, what's your favorite thing about America/England?:
What non-Hetalia fandoms are you into?:
Favorite ships/characters in those fandoms?:
What do you post about in your journal?:
What are you looking for in an LJ-friend?: (this can include anything from 'someone who'll comment' to 'someone to RP with' etc.)
Anything else?:




PLUG IT IN YOUR JOURNAL:

~* America/England Friending Meme *~


abarero: (Normal-131)
[personal profile] abarero2011-06-23 12:14 am

[MOD POST] 2011 US/UK SUMMER CAMP!



Hello everyone! It's time to announce our project for July this year. Since our Sweethearts Week is such a big hit every year, we're going to take that idea and turn it into a USxUK SUMMER CAMP! This means a month long celebration of USxUK love, complete with prizes and the works. We hope that as many people as possible participate! It starts on July 1st and runs for 4 weeks, ending on July 28th!

The object of the project is for members to collect camp badges. Badges will be passed out by mods in reply to posts that have earned them. There are several ways in which to earn badges, and there's no limit to the amount of badges you can collect. Members who collect the most badges will be awarded prizes.

How do I earn camp badges?

One Badge Per:
1. Doujinshi scanned- less than thirty-five pages
2. Doujinshi scanlated- less than twenty pages
3. Fan Video (Your creation. Linking to MAD videos does not count.)
4. Significant sized icon/graphics batch (Twenty-five plus icons, Five plus headers/wallpapers/banners, Three plus manga colors)
5. Fanfic of less than one thousand words completed on day’s theme. Fic must be at least five hundred words to qualify for a camp badge.
6. Fanart, black and white or monochromatic, completed on day's theme. Obvious work should be put into this. Please no quick doodles, like mochi in the margin of your notebooks or something you threw together in five minutes in MSPaint.
7. FST (fan soundtrack)
8. Something else? Ask in reply here, and we'll let you know if it qualifies or not.

Two Badges Per:
1. Doujinshi scanned- more than thirty-five pages
2. Doujinshi scanlated- more than twenty pages
3. Fan Video (Your creation. Linking to MAD videos does not count. This is at moderator discretion. A slideshow will not get you two badges, but a personally illustrated or created MAD video will, for example.)
4. Significant sized icon/graphics batch (Fifty plus icons, ten plus wallpapers/banners/headers, six plus manga colors)
5. Fanfic of more than one thousand words completed on day’s theme.
6. Fanart, full color, or fancomic (does not need to be colored) of more than one page, completed on day's theme. Obvious work should be put into these.

Is there anything that can earn more camp badges than that? There's always room for exceptions. If someone writes a 10k fic for a theme, does a lengthy inked comic, personally illustrates an elaborate MAD video, etc., you just may get an extra badge or few. It will be at mod discretion, but we promise we'll be fair with this.

Everything posted must be NEW. It cannot be a fan video you made two months ago, or a doujinshi you posted to [livejournal.com profile] hetalia, but have yet to post here. It needs to be unposted material. There is no limit to how much you can post.

For fic writers and artists, we've compiled a list of 28 themes for you to challenge yourselves with! Completing a fanwork for one of these themes will earn you camp badge(s). The catch is that the fanwork must be posted on the day of the theme; i.e. if you write a fic for the 'sports' theme, it has to be posted by the end of July 19th. You can post it on a later day, but it won't earn you any badges. We're showing you the themes in advance so you can get started now! We're not going to be stringent on time zones. As long as it is posted before GMT -11 hours hits midnight, it's good. That's the last time zone to pass into the next day. Here's a world clock to keep track of that.

You may do AS MANY pieces of fic or art for each theme as you wish. Each one will earn one or two badges (or more), depending on the above stipulations. Other badges-earners (i.e. doujinshi scans, icons, fsts, fan videos) outside of fic and art do not need to fit the theme.

I'll be posting at the beginning of each day to remind you what the daily theme is.

All 28 Camp Theme Days Behind the Cut! )

Pieces can be any genre, any rating, etc. Fic and art can be either canon or alternate universe for all the themes.

Now as for the prizes!

For this month long summer camp, we will have weekly winners and our overall winners. For example, those earning the most badges during our "Great Outdoors" week will earn a prize. Then, those who have the most badges overall, at the end of the month, will also receive a prize. This way, if you're going to be on vacation one week you can still at least try for a weekly prize even if you can't make the overall prizes.

We will be awarding at least the top three overall. Weekly prizes will depend on how many people participate each week. If there is a tie, we will draw for the winner.

There will be a selection of prizes to pick from. First place winner gets to pick a prize first, then second, then third.

THERE WILL ALSO BE A RAFFLE DRAWING.

ANYONE can enter this. I'll be setting up a post, and you must comment if you wish to be a part of it. A name will be picked at random (of course), and that person will be allowed to choose a prize. We may award more than one raffle prize like we did last year.

Prizes will be the following:
1- USxUK Doujinshi (these will not all be R-18, so don't worry if you don't want porn)
2- Yesasia and CDJapan gift certificates
3- LJ Paid Accounts
4- Other misc. ideas we will come up with.

We've designed the prizes to hopefully appeal to everyone. We know that some people may not be able to receive prizes in the mail, and that's why we're offering up the gift certificates as well.

Reply here if you have any questions!

We hope you're all excited for this project, and that a lot of you decide to participate. USxUK Summer Campers, we'll see you on July 1st!

-- Camp Counselor Abarero

2011 Spring Fever Fic/Art-athon



This spring, as a low pressure event, we've decided to run a fanwork-athon. Two years ago, when this community opened, our first project was a fanworkathon. As celebration of two years, we've decided to revisit this event for another go.

This is a low pressure USxUK fanworkathon. Both fanartists and fanfic writers (as well as fancomic artists!) are encouraged to participate.

The only restriction on subject matter:

It needs to be USxUK.

Of course. :D

And here is how it's going to work.
1- Tentative signup post (that's this post!) is made.
2- Prompt submission post is made. You reply with prompts that you're interested in seeing filled. You can submit as many prompts as you'd like. The more prompts, the better!
3- Prompt submission post is closed on April 4th (a week from now), and all the prompts are posted publicly. Members reply with which prompts they wish to fill. This will be first come-first serve.
4- Posting period begins! You can post at any point after you've claimed your prompt. The posting period will last from April 4th-May 30th June 6th (and after this, our summer project will start, which is going to be a new idea that we hope you enjoy). You may post your fanworks at any point during that time.

1- What if one of my prompts doesn't get filled?

That's always a possibility. This is not an exchange, so there's no guarantee that someone will fill one of the prompts you've offered up. Nonetheless, we're hopeful that there will be something here for everyone to enjoy, once all the fanworks are posted.

2- I really want to participate, but I have NO ideas for prompts. Can I still write or draw someone's prompt?

Sure, absolutely.

3- I'm not a fanartist or a fic writer, but I love looking at fanworks and I have a really great prompt idea. Can I offer it up?

Yes you may. Similarly, if you just don't have time to participate, but have some prompt ideas, go ahead and reply with them. We hope that you'll participate by submitting fanworks if you can though. The more the merrier!

4- How many prompts can I claim?

That depends on how many prompts we get. For now, you may claim one. If you finish your fanwork, you can come back and claim a second.

5- Can I claim my own prompt?

No, not yet. If there are enough prompts left, I may allow this after a few weeks.

6- Are there any other stipulations regarding fanworks?

Fanfiction should be a minimum of eight hundred words. It can be as long as you'd like. If you decide to do a chapter fic, you're welcome to post updates in separate posts to the community.

Fanart should be polished. It does not need to be colored, but it should not be a doodle in the margin of your notebook or something. Fancomics are the same. Additionally, like with fanfics, you may do separate posts with updates if you're doing a fancomic. Self-drawn MAD videos are also an okay medium.

Please try to have your work beta-ed.

8- OKAY, I WANT TO SIGN UP!

This is not an official 'signup' post. We'd prefer you not back out if you express interest here, but we understand if you have to (i.e. if something comes up, you don't feel like you can do any of the prompts). Also, if you miss replying to this post and still want to participate, you are welcome to.

Please reply to this post with whichever applies to you:

I am a fic author, and I am interested in participating.

I am an artist, and I am interested in participating.

I am a fic author and artist, and I am interested in participating.


Comments are screened. The reason we want you to reply with a tentative signing up is so we can get an approximate idea of how many prompts we need to be accumulating.

The PROMPT SUBMISSION POST will be posted in a bit. It will clarify more specifics on what exactly we're asking for in a prompt.

Hope to see a lot of interest!

If you're interested in participating, please JOIN the community!

Please direct any questions via a PM or in reply to this post. I hope we have lots of participants! :D


[livejournal.com profile] haro

[MOD POST] 2011 Special Relationship Sweethearts Week



Hello everyone! It's time to announce our project for Valentine's Day this year. This was SUCH a big hit last year, that we decided to repeat it. We'll be doing a week long celebration of USxUK love, complete with prizes and the works. We hope that as many people as possible participate! It starts on Tuesday, February 8th and ends the next Monday, February 14th.

The object of the project is for members to collect 'Valentines.' Valentines will be passed out by mods in reply to posts that have earned them. There are several ways in which to earn Valentines, and there's no limit to the amount of Valentines you can collect. Members who collect the most Valentines will be awarded prizes.

How do I earn Valentines?

One Valentine Per:
1. Doujinshi scanned- less than thirty-five pages
2. Doujinshi scanlated- less than twenty pages
3. Fan Video (Your creation. Linking to MAD videos does not count.)
4. Significant sized icon/graphics batch (Twenty-five plus icons, Five plus headers/wallpapers/banners, Three plus manga colors)
5. Fanfic of less than two thousand words completed on day’s theme. Fic must be at least five hundred words to qualify for a Valentine.
6. Fanart, black and white or monochromatic, completed on day's theme. Obvious work should be put into this. Please no quick doodles, like mochi in the margin of your notebooks or something you threw together in five minutes in MSPaint.
7. FSTs (of significant length. At least ten tracks)
8. Something else? Ask in reply here, and we'll let you know if it qualifies or not.

Two Valentines Per:
1. Doujinshi scanned- more than thirty-five pages
2. Doujinshi scanlated- more than twenty pages
3. Fan Video (Your creation. Linking to MAD videos does not count. This is at moderator discretion. A slideshow will not get you two Valentines, but a personally illustrated or created MAD video will, for example.)
4. Significant sized icon/graphics batch (Fifty plus icons, ten plus wallpapers/banners/headers, six plus manga colors)
5. Fanfic of more than two thousand words completed on day’s theme.
6. Fanart, full color, or fancomic (does not need to be colored) of more than one page, completed on day's theme. Obvious work should be put into these.
7. FSTs (of significant length. At least twenty tracks)

Is there anything that can earn more Valentines than that? There's always room for exceptions. If someone writes a 10k fic for a theme, does a lengthy inked comic, personally illustrates an elaborate MAD video, etc., you just may get an extra Valentine or few. It will be at mod discretion, but we promise we'll be fair with this.

Everything posted must be NEW. It cannot be a fan video you made two months ago, or a doujinshi you posted to [livejournal.com profile] hetalia, but have yet to post here. It needs to be unposted material. There is no limit to how much you can post.

For fic writers and artists, we've compiled a list of seven fairly broad themes to challenge yourselves with! Completing a fanwork for one of these themes will earn you Valentine(s). The catch is that the fanwork must be posted on the day of the theme; i.e. if you write a fic for the 'sealed with a kiss' theme, it has to be posted by the end of Monday. You can post it on a later day, but it won't earn you any Valentines. We're showing you the themes in advance so you can get started now! We're not going to be stringent on time zones. As long as it is posted before GMT -11 hours hits midnight, it's good. That's the last time zone to pass into the next day. Here's a world clock to keep track of that.

You may do AS MANY pieces of fic or art for each theme as you wish. Each one will earn one or two Valentines (or more), depending on the above stipulations. Other Valentine-earners (i.e. doujinshi scans) outside of fic and art do not need to fit the theme.

I'll be posting at the beginning of each day to remind you what the daily theme is.

Fic/Art Daily Themes:
8th: Sealed with a Kiss
Fic or art must feature a kiss (between America and England) somewhere in it (anywhere on the body is fine; a kiss on the lips, a peck on the cheek, a kiss to the hand, etc). We wanted to start out with something simple for you all.
9th: Pop Culture Shock
Fic or art must feature aspects of pop culture (films, music, tv, art, music, literature, theater, etc) from either the US, the UK, or both. Whether it's America and England dressing up as a fictional couple from one of their nations, the two working on a US-British film together, or the British Invasion, it's all relevant here.
10th: Around the World
Fic or art featuring America and England in another country but their own, or experiencing cultural aspects of another nation. Whether it's them vacationing to another country, celebrating a holiday from another nation, experiencing food, culture, costume, etc.
11th: Just the Two of Us
America and England, behind closed doors. Who are they when the meetings are over, when they're done with work, when it's just them? What are they up to when they spend time with only one another? It's up to you whether it's innocent, bickery, sweet, dramatic, introspective, silly, or R-rated. This is a pretty broad theme, but we hope you can have fun with it. Other characters may appear, but the focus should be mostly on just America and England.
12th: Across the Universes
Fic or art must be alternate universe, alternate reality, or crossover. Gakuen and Fantasia, despite being canon AUs, do qualify for this theme. Alternate reality refers to exploring a deviation from canon. In Hetalia, this may also be called alternate history. Crossovers are pretty self-explanatory; it just needs to feature characters or settings from another canon. Fusion fic/art (i.e. drawing the characters in clothing from another canon) is welcome here as well.
13th: Earth, Sky, Sea, and Space
Fic or art that involves America and England interacting with the natural world around them. Whether it's animals, something about space travel, England remembering his pirate days on the high seas, America's love of aviation, hiking, gardening, swimming, something science related, etc. Just America, England, and this big green and blue Earth (and beyond).
14th: Valentine’s Day
This is pretty basic. Your fic or art just needs to be about Valentine's Day. It does not need to take place on the holiday, but Valentine's Day should at least be an element of the story.

Pieces can be any genre, any rating, etc. Except for Across the Universes (au only), fic and art can be either canon or alternate universe for all the themes.

Now as for the prizes!

Obviously, the members who earn the MOST Valentines are the winners here. We will be awarding at least the top three (last year we awarded more). If there is a tie, we will draw for the winner.

There will be a selection of prizes to pick from. First place winner gets to pick a prize first, then second, then third.

THERE WILL ALSO BE A RAFFLE DRAWING.

ANYONE can enter this. I'll be setting up a post, and you must comment if you wish to be a part of it. A name will be picked at random (of course), and that person will be allowed to choose a prize. We may award more than one raffle prize like we did last year.

Prizes will be the following:
1- USxUK Doujinshi (these will not all be R-18, so don't worry if you don't want porn)
2- Yesasia and CDJapan gift certificates
3- LJ Paid Accounts
4- Adorable USxUK pins donated by [livejournal.com profile] monobuu
5- Other misc. ideas we may come up with.

We've designed the prizes to hopefully appeal to everyone. We know that some people may not be able to receive prizes in the mail, and that's why we're offering up the gift certificates as well.

Reply here if you have any questions!

We hope you're all excited for this project, and that a lot of you decide to participate in helping our favorite special relationship celebrate the holiday of romance together. ♥

-[livejournal.com profile] haro
Entry tags:

Poll

Greetings, people! I come here because your feedback will be very useful to us. Along with my collaborator [Poll #1671293]Depending on the winner option, you may hear from me again soon...or maybe not xD Anyways, thanks for your attention and feedback!
NOTE: Please consider the July - October option as June - October instead, as I just realized it has one month less on it! My apologies for the inconvenience!

EDIT 2: The winner choice is June - October. Thanks to everybody who filled this poll!  And, see you in June!
abarero: (Normal-215)
[personal profile] abarero2011-01-04 10:16 pm

2011 Winter Friending Meme

Since there's no better way to ring in the new year than with new friends...



In case you've never been involved in one of these- this it how it goes. Reply to this post with the survey below and link this post to your friendslist so more people will come post their survey. Then people will browse through the replies to see if there's anyone they'd like to friend. Then just reply to them and ask to friend. Simple as that!

That being said- start spreading the word and replying! And don't be shy, we won't bite ^.~

Name/Nickname:
Age:
Location:
Favorite Hetalia characters:
Favorite Hetalia pairings:
So, what's your favorite thing about America/England?:
What non-Hetalia fandoms are you into?:
Favorite ships/characters in those fandoms?:
What do you post about in your journal?:
What are you looking for in an LJ-friend?: (this can include anything from 'someone who'll comment' to 'someone to RP with' etc.)
Do you have a fic/icon/art/creative journal? If so what:
Anything else?:




PLUG IT IN YOUR JOURNAL:

~* America/England Friending Meme *~


Secret Santa Reminder

Just as a heads up, signups for the 2010 [livejournal.com profile] usxuk Secret Santa close A WEEK FROM TODAY. You must have them in by midnight CST on the thirty-first (here's a countdown clock to that).

Please submit your signup form here!

We hope to get many more of you signing up! It would be amazing if we were able to surpass last year. :D

And also remember that we are taking artist auditions for the 2011 calendar until November second.

2011 USxUK Calendar Audition Post

If you haven't yet voted in the poll, please do so here!

Here is the audition post. Please read it carefully! If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

This is what you'll need to provide:

-Name. Self explanatory.

-Email Address. The comments are screened, so you don't need to space it or anything. Just write it as is. It makes it easier for me to send emails.

-Do you have a website/deviantart/art journal? You may link this here if you wish, but it is not required.

-Please provide three samples of art. At least one sample must be Hetalia art (preferrably OF America and England, although that is not necessary), and at least one sample must be a full color piece. Please choose art that you feel shows your skill! The art you complete to be featured in the calendar must be G-PG (kissing, cuddling, shirtlessness, etc are fine. But nothing risque), but you can use higher rated art for your samples. R-18 is fine for the audition.

-Months you would be most interested in? Please list the THREE months you'd be most interested in drawing for, in order of preference. If you'd like to do the cover you can list that as one of your three as well. The piece you draw if accepted must be themed for whichever month you are assigned. It can be a holiday (i.e. a Halloween image for October), something associated with the month (i.e. April showers), or just something that fits the season (i.e. curling up because it's cold outside). You could even use a historical event as your backdrop. It's up to you! You're welcome to get creative as well. And no you don't need to tell me here what you have in mind right now. Just list the months. I will try my hardest to get everyone one of their preferred months, but I cannot promise it.

You will have approximately a month to complete your art. I will send out your assignments by November eighth if you have been accepted, and you must get them in by December fourth (which gives you almost four weeks). If you are accepted, you will also be invited to a community I'm setting up for the project. I'm making this so I don't have to clog this community with announcements for the artists. All information- such as necessary dimensions for the piece (so it fits the calendar) and other specifics, will be posted there. ^^

Depending on where I get it printed, I might actually have room for some more artists. I'm considering small pieces of art at the bottom (they'll need to have white backgrounds though, so they look natural down there). As such, don't be shy about auditioning.

AUDITIONS MUST BE IN BY TUESDAY NOVEMBER SECOND AT MIDNIGHT CST. This gives you about a week and a half.

COMMENTS ARE SCREENED.

Ready? Now fill out the form!



-[livejournal.com profile] haro

Edit on 10/30: I've found the service I'm using to print the calendar. It will be an 8.5' by 11' inch calendar (that's the size when closed), and we will indeed be doing the inset art pieces. :D

All accepted artists will receive a free calendar.

USxUK Calendar Project

[livejournal.com profile] kanami_yuuta brought up an awesome idea for a community project, and I figured I'd run it all by you.

How would you all feel about producing a 2011 USxUK calendar, featuring art by the talented members of this community?

Cost for the calendar would be cost of printing+shipping to you. I don't have a cost yet, but I'd try my damndest to keep the total with shipping under twenty dollars.

As for art, we would need THIRTEEN different artists in order to participate; one for each month and one for the cover. I imagine that if this goes through, more than thirteen artists may be interested. I'd be putting up a post (with screened comments) to serve as an 'audition' of sorts, where artists can submit some of their previous art and we decide from there. All artists will be given proper credit. I plan on printing the calendars with either the name of the artist and a link to their livejournal/devart/website/wherever on their respective page, or with an 'index' in the back featuring that information.

POLL TIME!

[Poll #1634645]

YOU DO NOT NEED TO VOTE IN ALL THREE. VOTE IN ONLY THE ONES THAT APPLY TO YOU. IF YOU ARE NOT AN ARTIST, *PLEASE* DO NOT VOTE IN POLL THREE.

Now looking for some member feedback:

-If this calendar goes through, how would you like it to be set up? Size, printing, etc.

-For me: I would love suggestions as to the best places to get high quality printing for a good price. I live in the states, but I am willing to order from an overseas site if they ship here, so don't let that limit you. I've been looking around at places myself, but I know we have some fans here who have printed doujinshi and such that may have great suggestions.

-Any other suggestions for the project?

-[livejournal.com profile] haro

2010 USxUK SECRET SANTA

Here it is, everyone...our second annual Secret Santa! I'm posting it a day early because I had it ready.



Please read all the information carefully, sign up, and SPREAD THE WORD. Invite your friends to participate if they're not already members!

What 'Secret Santa Exchange' Means: You create a fanwork, and you'll receive one in return. Everyone who wishes to participate will provide a few prompts that they'd like to see completed, and another community member will be assigned their prompts and will complete one of those (which one is completed is up to the person they're assigned to). When you submit your prompts, you are welcome (and encouraged) to tell me anything you are uncomfortable with or don't wish to do (pairings, genre, rating, etc), that way the prompts you're given are something you're comfortable writing/drawing.

Onto the detailed information!

  • All fanworks must be USxUK. This is not a general Hetalia fic/art exchange. It is for this pairing. Their relationship should be the focus. That being said, you're welcome to submit platonic prompts for young!America and England (although they should not involve other romantic pairings for England and America). Other pairings may be included in your prompt (for example, it is allowed to ask for a fic that's USxUK with some SpainxRomano), but again, USxUK focused.


  • Can I ask for ____? You can ask for whatever you want- rating, genre, etc. However, please keep in mind that if you're asking for something super unusual, you might want to provide some broader prompts as well.


  • How long do I have to signup? Signups will end on 10/31/10 (a Sunday). Assignments will be sent out by 11/07/10 (the next Sunday). I will do reminders. That gives you over two weeks to sign up. YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THIS COMMUNITY TO SIGN UP.


  • When is the deadline? Please have your piece completed and posted by 12/24/10. You may post your fanwork any time after 12/01/10. For deadlines, I'll be using my timezone, which is US Central Standard. You can see that here.


  • How do I post it? I'll put up the posting format later, but you just post it directly to the community. You may put it below an lj-cut or link off community (to a writing journal, ff.net, deviantart, etc).


  • How long does fic have to be? At least eight hundred words. It doesn't need to be super-long of course, but we want everyone to get something that's more than drabble length.


  • Are there any extra requirements for the art? Aside from the stipulations listed above for both fic and art, no. It can be done in any medium (digital, colored pencil, copic, sketch, etc). Just remember that this is a gift, so it should look like a complete piece of art, whichever way you go about that.


  • Can I do fancomics or chapterfics? Yes. Absolutely. We have some additional rules regarding fancomics and chapterfics. I'll be doing another post about this closer to the deadline (in order to see who is taking advantage of them), but you can see what they are here.


  • What types of prompts should I give? Prompts can be anything from something vague like "America and England with butterflies," "America and England go on a picnic" to something specific like "I'd like to see a piece about America and England dealing with their differences over the Suez Canal Crisis. Angst is likely to occur, and that's fine. But I want a happy ending, and possibly, to see their relationship actually develop to the next level."


  • I have another question. Then please ask it in reply here, private message me, or email it to me at everything.is.magic AT gmail.com.


  • What if I need to drop out? Then I would ask you to please let me know as soon as possible so we can arrange a pinch hitter for you.


  • Okay, I'm ready to signup! Great, here's a sample form. Just reply to THIS post with your form. You can use the handy dandy provided html. Comments are screened.


    GIVING:
    Username:
    Email:
    Specialty (Fanfic or Fanart- If you can do both, you may list both):
    Highest Rating You'll Work With:
    Will Not Work With (Any characters, pairings, genres, scenarios, you won't do):

    RECEIVING:
    Do Not Want (Any characters, pairings, ratings, genres, scenarios, etc you don't want to receive):
    Do You Prefer fic, art, or no preference?:
    Country names, human names, or no preference?:
    Three Prompts. If all your prompts are fic only (as opposed to prompts that are able to work for both fic and art), and you're willing to receive art, please add a fourth prompt for art. Same goes for if all of your prompts are art, please add a fourth for fic if you're willing to receive fic:

    Can you pinch hit if someone drops out?:




    YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST FILL OUT THE ENTIRE FORM. THANK YOU.

    We hope to see many of you participating!
    -[livejournal.com profile] haro