Welcome!
KAISOOMMER 2017
Welcome to the much awaited third round of kaisoommer, the one and only Kaisoo-centered fic exchange!
✸ | Welcome! | ✸
Two years it has been since you last saw the magical Morgan Freeman (Maybe) and his Modperor Penguin before you. Two long, long years it has been since the curtains opened and closed to reveal the beautifully and gloriously expansive Library of Kaisoommer Island. You have almost forgotten about it-it lurks only at the edges of your deepest unconsciousness-yet today, you see him before you, a clumsy penguin wearing a small crown on its head that keeps slipping off such that the clumsy penguin is pushing it back up every three seconds or so.
Before you can remember to expect it, the booming-
WELCOME AGAIN TO THE LIBRARY OF KAISOOMMER ISLAND. the Morgan Freeman (Maybe) voice thunders straight into your face. Even though it is only over the loudspeakers, you feel the disgusting feeling of someone's warm and damp breath on your face with spit and everything. YOU CERTAINLY HAVE MISSED ME!!!!
You don't know if you missed him or not, but you have certainly missed the beautiful library you are standing in right now, which you have no idea how you got to since the Modperor Penguin never opened a glowing golden door for you. Perhaps it learned how to teleport. The Modperor Penguin chuckles in the corner. It is reading your mind because it is creepy.
CERTAINLY YOU ARE NOT LOST ANYMORE, and if you are it is your fault, SO YOU CLEARLY DESIRED TO BE HERE, AND IF THIS IS WRONG AND YOU WISH TO LEAVE WE ARE ON AN ISLAND, SO YOU CAN'T REALLY, BECAUSE WE ARE A HIDDEN ISLAND AND THERE ARE NO BOATS. ALSO WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO LEAVE THIS PENGUIN, WHO IS SO CUTE AND HAS GRACIOUSLY INVITED YOU HERE AS HIS GUEST AND WOULD BE TRULY VERY SAD IF YOU LEFT. The Modperor Penguin pushes his crown back up and makes puppy-dog eyes... puppy-penguin eyes... penguinny... penguin eyes... whatever, at you and nods. You cannot resist his penguinny penguin gaze. You step forward to give the small penguin a hug because he looks so sad.
Suddenly everything goes black. You are falling, falling, falling into an endless hole of black. Morgan Freeman (Maybe) is cackling loudly all around you and it is echoing. After years and years of falling, you land on a soft cushion made of the tears of Kaisoo shippers because all Kaisoo writers write angst because they hate everything and are secretly evil. The light slowly grows again. It is the light from the Modperor Penguin's crown. He is suddenly huge, towering over you, cackling with Morgan Freeman (Maybe)'s voice. You realize you are stuck here until the Modperor Penguin sets you free. Slowly, you look up. The Modperor Penguin is looking you in the eye.
WELCOME TO ABYSS OF KAISOOMMER ISLAND, he says.
THE SHOW HAS BEGUN.
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In lieu of Kaisoommer’s tradition, Round 2017 will run as an Exchange.
✸ | 2017 SCHEDULE | ✸
Sign-ups open : May 13
Sign-ups close: May 20
Assignments Sent: May 27
First check-in/Drop-out Deadline: June 24
Second Check-in: July 22
Final Submission: August 26
Posting Begins: September 1
Guess Who? Post: TBA
Reveals: TBA
All dates after the final submissions are currently tentative, and will be announced on all our platforms once finalized. This schedule gives you thirteen full weeks (three months) to write 2,500 words.
Pinch-hitters will be notified the day after the drop out deadline (June 24) and have until September 1 to turn in their fics.
✸ | Rules & Guidelines | ✸
- Please only sign up for this exchange if you are absolutely certain of your commitment. We understand that real life can be unpredictable and that you may need to drop out. While we encourage you to only do so as a last resort, this rule is not made to discourage you from dropping out in the case that you need to; rather, we would just like to make sure that everyone who signs up fully intends to complete this exchange from start to finish. Please make sure that you sign up for this fic exchange intending to go through the whole thing.
- When signing up, you must give us an email that you check regularly. Important announcements and information will be sent by email. Those who do not respond to our emails for three days will be kicked out of the exchange. Should this happen before the first check-in/drop out deadline, you will be considered a dropout from the exchange. Should this happen afterwards, you will be kicked out and banned from the next round of Kaisoommer.
- Check-ins must be turned in on time! Extensions will be allowed, but for the sake of the mods’ sanity, please do try to let us know as quickly as possible. If you do not turn in your check-in on time, there will be a three day window where we will try to contact you through alternative means, be it Tumblr, Twitter, or another email you have provided us with. If you do not respond during this three day window with a proper reason (eg. technical emergency, family emergency, etc.) as to why your check-in is late, you will be removed from the exchange and you will essentially have dropped out.
Your writer will be alerted (if they opt to know, as some writers would prefer not to) and will be allowed to deviate from the prompt as much as they would like to and will write a “to everybody” fic as to deter people from signing up, giving prompts, and dropping out just so that they get a fic written for them. People who are found participating in such actions will face consequences, as it is only fair to the writers who are working hard to take the exchange seriously. - All fics must contain Kaisoo as the main pairing. This is a Kaisoo fic exchange after all. OT3 pairings will be allowed, but Kaisoo must be the focus of the fic.
- The minimum word count of this exchange is 2,500 words. Given that this exchange takes place over summer, we believe we have provided enough time for the minimum word count to be reached. Of course, you are free to write more, and we will be reasonably lenient with the minimum (eg. 2,499 words is okay, but 2,000 words is kind of ridiculous). Please try to reach (and, even better, surpass) the minimum word count, as there is a reason that it’s there. If you’re convinced that writing something below 2,500 words is the only way you can write a satisfactory fic, please contact the mods at kaisoommer@gmail.com and we will discuss the matter with you in further detail.
- Do not, under any circumstances, reveal your identity to anyone other than a beta (who should not be participating in the exchange). Having a beta is recommended, and of course your beta would know which fic is yours, but part of the fun of the exchange is in the Guess Who? Post and Reveals. Please don’t ruin it for your recipient or anyone else.
- Plagiarism will not be tolerated. No warnings will be given. Should you plagiarize, you will be publicly admonished and banned from all future rounds.
- Be nice. Keep comments polite. If the writer has not specifically asked for criticism in their public author’s note, do not criticize. Supportive comments only! Everyone worked hard, regardless of output. Kaisoommer’s journal is not the right place to offer critique.
- This exchange runs on Korean Standard Time. All submissions will be counted on time so long as they are due on the listed date before 11:59PM KST.
- Communication is key. For any concerns, you may reach us through Twitter (@kaisoommer) or through e-mail (kaisoommer@gmail.com). We will do our best to respond to your concerns as soon as possible. Please, please, please respond to our e-mails. Help keep us sane!
- With that said, have fun! We hope you find and write on with inspiration, all for the love of Kaisoo - the main stars of this Exchange.
✸ | Sign-Ups Info | ✸
Sign-ups will open on May 13 until the 20th. As of the date of this posting, you will have two full weeks to prepare your prompt and decide on your interest to join.
You may join as a full participant, meaning, you’ll receive a fic based on your prompt/s and write one as well. If circumstances arise and you’re forced to drop-out anytime during the exchange, your prompts will be void, and your writer will be given an option of writing a different prompt entirely. Your assignment will be passed onto a new writer/pinch-hitter.
We are aware that many may not be able to participate throughout the entire exchange so we will offer strictly pinch-hit sign-ups! Pinch-hitters will be given assignments on June 25-28 and have until September 1 to write (approximately 9 weeks). Some pinch-hitters will be given short-notice assignments, as last round many people had emergencies that caused them to drop out even after postings had already begun. Do let us know if you'd be willing to do an urgent, short-notice pinch-hit.
More details on this will be explained on our official sign-up post on May 13.
✸ | Prompt Guidelines | ✸
All full-pledged participants will be allowed to submit a minimum of three prompts, maximum of five.
As a guideline for prompts, please refrain from giving prompts that are too specific or too general, as the former takes away from the writer’s ability to explore the prompt by their own creative means and the latter makes it difficult for the writer to properly satisfy the recipient’s prompt. The following are examples of prompts that may be useful to you when you are signing up:
- Bad prompt (too vague): Oedipus!AU.
- Bad prompt (too specific): When his son is born, Kyungsoo’s father (Junmyeon) discovers that he is cursed to marry his mother, girl!Jongin, and kill his father. Junmyeon sends Kyungsoo in a basket down the river in hopes of preventing the future events, where he is picked up by an old couple (Chanyeol and girl!Baekhyun) and taken care of. One day, bird!Luhan comes to Kyungsoo’s house and tells him that he is actually destined to be a king and should return home so he leaves the old couple in search of the throne, where he meets Jongin and falls in love with her before deciding that he must kill Junmyeon by a sword fight in order to be with her
- Good prompt: Oedipus!AU with Kyungsoo as Oedipus and Jongin as Jocasta, where Kyungsoo’s primary motivation to ascend the throne comes from his love for Jongin rather than ambition.
However, we are encouraging, imploring all writers who are planning on including very sensitive topics such as stated above to notify the mods of their intent to do so. Also, we most definitely will not allow fics that romanticize/glorifies rape and abuse (We do not support eventual love between an abuser and its victim. even if fictional.)
Now that all that is out of the way, we are officially launching the third round of Kaisoommer!
Do you hear the trumpets? It’s getting loud in here!
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✸ | ABOUT US | ✸
Kaisoommer is a pairing-centered, summertime fic exchange for the (indisputably) greatest one of EXO's forty five possible pairings!
Whether you enjoy the dynamics between Do Kyungsoo and Kim Jongin as friends, boyfriends, husbands, worst enemies or whatever else you can possibly come up with, Kaisoommer exists to cater to all your Kaisoo reading, writing, and prompting desires.
Established on Christmas day of 2013 by STARS_IN_LOVE, JESSTOAST, and PARKOURDEER, Kaisoommer now begins its march towards a third round of exchange glory. Watch or join the community to keep posted; should you have any questions, contact us either at kaisoommer@gmail.com, or on twitter at @kaisoommer!