A Valentine Exchange

Hello, my doves. Cupidbela here.  

Last year, I took over Santa Varric’s fine blog to organize an exchange for Dragon Age fans for Valentines.  This year, I’m finding a boat blog of my own and setting sail in deeper waters.

This Valentines Day, I want to give everyone a chance to play, so things will run a bit differently than they did last year, or than Santa Varric handles things at dragonageholidaycheer.  Time is short, so lets get started:

WHO Can Play:

Are you a fan of BioWare games?  Yes?! Come play.

WHAT It Is:

This is a Valentine exchange.  If you sign-up, you’ll be assigned a Valentine, and someone will be assigned to be your Valentine (it may or may not be the same person).  Valentines are tasked with sending love, encouragement, special messages, fic, art, fanmixes and whatever else tickles your fancy, so that your Valentine has the best holiday you can give them.  

WHEN It Is:

Traditionally, Valentines day is February 14th.  But I think we can do better than that.  Sign-ups to be involve start now and will run through Monday, February 11th at midnight CST (GMT -6).  Matches will start going out, as soon as sign-ups start coming in, the last of which will go out by early Tuesday, February 12th.  

Gifts will be due to your Valentine by February 28th - midnight in your timezone of choice.  (Gifts given on or before Valentines Day are preferred, but not mandatory.)

WHERE It Is:

Use the handy submit feature to send me a post. Please include the following:

Your Name of Choice:
Your Tumblr Name (if different):
Your Favorite BioWare Game:
Your BioWare OTP (crossovers allowed):
Are you open to physical gifts: Y/N
Any notes/requests to share:

HOW To Play:

Your submissions will be published privately and the link to them will be shared only with the person you’ll be matched with.  

Once you’ve been matched with your Valentine, it’s time to get to work making their holiday special.  Use what’s available to you via their sign-up and figure out what you might like to give them.  Now, time is short and money is often scarce, and it’s no fun for Cupidbela if those things prohibit people from getting involved.  

So here are my suggestions on gifts you can give your Valentine using multiples of 5:

• A fic of 500 words or more
• A fanmix of 5 or more songs
• 5 icons, gifs, or other small images
• One or more podfic that combined is 5 or more minutes long
• 5 messages of love, encouragement, meta, fic, character intrigue, and so on… (of 100 words or more)
• A physical gift of a 5 dollar value or more (use your best judgement where shipping is concerned)
• And while artwork is subjective on time/size/value - something of 500px or more is a good place to start

These are just suggestions from a humble Cupidbela, but I think they’re a fine place to start when considering your gifting options.

——

I hope, kittens, that you all want to get involved to make someone’s Valentines a special one.  

PLEASE REMEMBER: We do this for fun, and to be kind to our fellow members of fandom.  The limits and restrictions of time, money and abilities are different for everyone.  Cupidbela is not a mind reader (nor would she want to be) and chances are very likely, your Valentine won’t be either.  So, please try to give and accept gifts in the spirit you would like someone to do for you.  

Please let me know if you have any requests, or questions.