Tarot Fest Round Three Announcement
At last, the Round Three Announcement Post!
Here's some preparatory info about the next round of the Potterverse Tarot Fest.
We will have room for a maximum of 30 writers and 30 artists, and slots will be assigned first-come first-serve. Signups will begin on June 1st and run to June 11th. THIS IS NOT THE SIGNUP POST. This is just a preliminary post to get you prepared.
General Description:
The fest is for Harry Potter fanfic and fanart that is inspired by or connected to the Tarot. All pairings and ratings are welcome! In the past, we have been home to many unique pairings (like Harry/Padma and Hermione/Barty Crouch Jr.) as well as many of the more well-known ones (like Harry/Draco and Snarry). The stories do *not* have to actually have Tarot cards or Divination in them. We use the meanings and interpretations of Tarot cards as a jumping off place to create new Harry Potter stories and art. Slash, gen, het, all variations are welcome!
Fest Theme: Let The Cards Decide!
In the previous rounds of the fest we provided prompts and pairings for each card and had people pick among them in an effort to try to create as complete a "deck" of cards as possible. This time we're trying something a bit different, where each participant will draw a card at random at home (or we'll draw one for you). Hence...
This is the "Let the Cards Decide!" Round of the fest! When it comes to art, an artist can just draw a card from the deck s/he has at home and go with that! But when it comes to fic, you may want to draw one card, or you may want to draw three. Here's why.
A very common form of Tarot reading involves drawing only three cards. The three-card reading is a good way for beginners in tarot to get used to making interpretations and fitting cards together into a 'story' or seeing how they can relate together to say something.
The three cards could represent:
Past - Present - Future
Beginning - Middle - End
Self/Starting Point - Obstacle - Outcome
In a fic, they could easily represent any of the above, or:
Three main characters
Main Character/Situation - Choice A - Choice B
Main Character - Pairing - Conflict
Main Character - Pairing - Resolution
or get even more creative! Maybe if you draw a 1 through 7 that card determines what year during the books your fic will take place, while 8, 9, or 10 could be how many years post-Hogwarts...
You could also pre-determine two of the factors in your story, like pairing or main character and a setting/time frame, and then draw a card for your final prompt. For example, I could decide I will do Harry/Draco in sixth year, and then I draw the Four of Swords, which can represent "A truce. Rest from Strife." Hmm, would that tempt me to write an AU where Draco goes to Harry for help? Maybe! Or I might decide on my main character, say Snape, and a time period, like when he first became a Death Eater. I draw a card... I got The High Priestess who represents "Intuition. A sense of knowing things which cannot be explained in normal terms." Hmm... in my mind that suggests Severus, remorseful after Lily's death, trying to find out more from Trelawney about his own fate, but of course learning nothing...
In this round of the fest it will be perfectly OK to duplicate pairings and cards. After all, Let the Cards Decide!
When you post your claim, here's what you'll post in the comments:
Your Name/Journal:
Pairing or Main Character:
Fic or Art?
Preferred week of posting: (August 1-7, 8-15, 16-23, 24-31)
Card(s) Represented in Prompt:
including brief description of the divination or interpretation you used.
For example:
Journal: ficisforever
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Fic
August 16 -23
Card represented:
I drew the two of swords first, which says Harry/Draco to me because of how it can represent opposites in conflict, but also in balance. Next I drew Justice, which without even looking up the meaning gave me the idea of the Ministry putting Draco on trial after the war and Harry trying to decide what's right and how to fight for him. (Of course he'll fight FOR him, lol). The final card I drew was the Nine of Coins, which can stand for money spent freely--perhaps at the end, Draco pledges a large sum of money to a charity as part of his redemption?
Another example:
Journal: iluvharry
Main Character: Harry
Fic:
As close to August 1st as possible please?
The Magician, Two of Swords, Ten Coins. This suggested a story to me about Harry becoming Headmaster of Hogwarts, because he is The Magician who has "a sense of life as magical, when everything goes right." The Two of Swords, though, are Albus Severus and Scorpius, and since the Ten of Pentacles can mean "family inheritance" I figure that means Al and Scorpius have inherited their fathers' rivalry... although I drew it reversed, which can mean "looking for new beginnings." So perhaps they do become the friends that their fathers might have become? Ahem "friends."
If you do not have a tarot deck and would like a moderator to draw three cards for you, please post with any starting basis you have (like if there is a pairing you particularly know you want, or if you want marauders era, etc...) or if you just want us to draw first and then you Let The Cards Decide! You'll post a comment when everyone else claiming does and we'll respond ASAP.
Reminder: the fest is open to stories of all ratings, including R and NC-17. We are also open to all pairings, both the popular ones, and the rare ones. Alternate universes? Varying levels of canon-compliancy? Canon rewrites? All good!
Art can be representative of a specific card (and we have a list of cards for which no art has been produced yet in any previous round!) or can tell a story inspired by the cards. It's really up to you. Flash movie? Comic? Portrait painting? All good.
Some General Rules:
Fics must be 1000 words in length minimum, and must be beta-read. Fics that have egregious grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors in them may be pulled down and asked to be fixed up, and the writers issued a scolding, so please take this beta-reading requirement seriously. We ask that artists, too, please help maintain the high quality of the community.
All posts must be made IN THE COMM and not in personal journals with a fake cut. You are welcome to repost your stories or art and archive them elsewhere after the fest ends, but during the fest itself hp_tarot should be the only place it appears. We will have a special server for hosting the art submissions. By submitting art for the fest, you are implicitly giving permission for us to archive it indefinitely.
Reminders and instructions on how to submit will come later. See the FAQ for the posting template.
Dates For Round Three:
The signup post will go up on Sunday, June 1st, at 12 noon Eastern USA time. Signups will remain open until Wednesday June 11th at 10pm US Eastern time. Posting will begin on August 1st and run through the month of August. As before, we will ask each participant to pick a posting week, and then we will assign a particular day within that week for each person. Each person will be expected to post on the date they are assigned... or as close to as possible. (Sometimes RL gets in the way...) This is just to ensure a general flow of fic and art throughout the fest and to give each story its time in the sun if possible.
Signups Start: June 1st 12 noon Eastern (US)
Signups End: June 11th 10pm Eastern (US) -- or as soon as all slots are filled
Submissions Due: each submission is due on its posting date
Posting begins: August 1
Posting Ends: August 31
So please start shuffling your decks! See you on June 1st!
Here's some preparatory info about the next round of the Potterverse Tarot Fest.
We will have room for a maximum of 30 writers and 30 artists, and slots will be assigned first-come first-serve. Signups will begin on June 1st and run to June 11th. THIS IS NOT THE SIGNUP POST. This is just a preliminary post to get you prepared.
General Description:
The fest is for Harry Potter fanfic and fanart that is inspired by or connected to the Tarot. All pairings and ratings are welcome! In the past, we have been home to many unique pairings (like Harry/Padma and Hermione/Barty Crouch Jr.) as well as many of the more well-known ones (like Harry/Draco and Snarry). The stories do *not* have to actually have Tarot cards or Divination in them. We use the meanings and interpretations of Tarot cards as a jumping off place to create new Harry Potter stories and art. Slash, gen, het, all variations are welcome!
Fest Theme: Let The Cards Decide!
In the previous rounds of the fest we provided prompts and pairings for each card and had people pick among them in an effort to try to create as complete a "deck" of cards as possible. This time we're trying something a bit different, where each participant will draw a card at random at home (or we'll draw one for you). Hence...
This is the "Let the Cards Decide!" Round of the fest! When it comes to art, an artist can just draw a card from the deck s/he has at home and go with that! But when it comes to fic, you may want to draw one card, or you may want to draw three. Here's why.
A very common form of Tarot reading involves drawing only three cards. The three-card reading is a good way for beginners in tarot to get used to making interpretations and fitting cards together into a 'story' or seeing how they can relate together to say something.
The three cards could represent:
Past - Present - Future
Beginning - Middle - End
Self/Starting Point - Obstacle - Outcome
In a fic, they could easily represent any of the above, or:
Three main characters
Main Character/Situation - Choice A - Choice B
Main Character - Pairing - Conflict
Main Character - Pairing - Resolution
or get even more creative! Maybe if you draw a 1 through 7 that card determines what year during the books your fic will take place, while 8, 9, or 10 could be how many years post-Hogwarts...
You could also pre-determine two of the factors in your story, like pairing or main character and a setting/time frame, and then draw a card for your final prompt. For example, I could decide I will do Harry/Draco in sixth year, and then I draw the Four of Swords, which can represent "A truce. Rest from Strife." Hmm, would that tempt me to write an AU where Draco goes to Harry for help? Maybe! Or I might decide on my main character, say Snape, and a time period, like when he first became a Death Eater. I draw a card... I got The High Priestess who represents "Intuition. A sense of knowing things which cannot be explained in normal terms." Hmm... in my mind that suggests Severus, remorseful after Lily's death, trying to find out more from Trelawney about his own fate, but of course learning nothing...
In this round of the fest it will be perfectly OK to duplicate pairings and cards. After all, Let the Cards Decide!
When you post your claim, here's what you'll post in the comments:
Your Name/Journal:
Pairing or Main Character:
Fic or Art?
Preferred week of posting: (August 1-7, 8-15, 16-23, 24-31)
Card(s) Represented in Prompt:
including brief description of the divination or interpretation you used.
For example:
Journal: ficisforever
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Fic
August 16 -23
Card represented:
I drew the two of swords first, which says Harry/Draco to me because of how it can represent opposites in conflict, but also in balance. Next I drew Justice, which without even looking up the meaning gave me the idea of the Ministry putting Draco on trial after the war and Harry trying to decide what's right and how to fight for him. (Of course he'll fight FOR him, lol). The final card I drew was the Nine of Coins, which can stand for money spent freely--perhaps at the end, Draco pledges a large sum of money to a charity as part of his redemption?
Another example:
Journal: iluvharry
Main Character: Harry
Fic:
As close to August 1st as possible please?
The Magician, Two of Swords, Ten Coins. This suggested a story to me about Harry becoming Headmaster of Hogwarts, because he is The Magician who has "a sense of life as magical, when everything goes right." The Two of Swords, though, are Albus Severus and Scorpius, and since the Ten of Pentacles can mean "family inheritance" I figure that means Al and Scorpius have inherited their fathers' rivalry... although I drew it reversed, which can mean "looking for new beginnings." So perhaps they do become the friends that their fathers might have become? Ahem "friends."
If you do not have a tarot deck and would like a moderator to draw three cards for you, please post with any starting basis you have (like if there is a pairing you particularly know you want, or if you want marauders era, etc...) or if you just want us to draw first and then you Let The Cards Decide! You'll post a comment when everyone else claiming does and we'll respond ASAP.
Reminder: the fest is open to stories of all ratings, including R and NC-17. We are also open to all pairings, both the popular ones, and the rare ones. Alternate universes? Varying levels of canon-compliancy? Canon rewrites? All good!
Art can be representative of a specific card (and we have a list of cards for which no art has been produced yet in any previous round!) or can tell a story inspired by the cards. It's really up to you. Flash movie? Comic? Portrait painting? All good.
Some General Rules:
Fics must be 1000 words in length minimum, and must be beta-read. Fics that have egregious grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors in them may be pulled down and asked to be fixed up, and the writers issued a scolding, so please take this beta-reading requirement seriously. We ask that artists, too, please help maintain the high quality of the community.
All posts must be made IN THE COMM and not in personal journals with a fake cut. You are welcome to repost your stories or art and archive them elsewhere after the fest ends, but during the fest itself hp_tarot should be the only place it appears. We will have a special server for hosting the art submissions. By submitting art for the fest, you are implicitly giving permission for us to archive it indefinitely.
Reminders and instructions on how to submit will come later. See the FAQ for the posting template.
Dates For Round Three:
The signup post will go up on Sunday, June 1st, at 12 noon Eastern USA time. Signups will remain open until Wednesday June 11th at 10pm US Eastern time. Posting will begin on August 1st and run through the month of August. As before, we will ask each participant to pick a posting week, and then we will assign a particular day within that week for each person. Each person will be expected to post on the date they are assigned... or as close to as possible. (Sometimes RL gets in the way...) This is just to ensure a general flow of fic and art throughout the fest and to give each story its time in the sun if possible.
Signups Start: June 1st 12 noon Eastern (US)
Signups End: June 11th 10pm Eastern (US) -- or as soon as all slots are filled
Submissions Due: each submission is due on its posting date
Posting begins: August 1
Posting Ends: August 31
So please start shuffling your decks! See you on June 1st!