What We're Doing for #IFD2020

The sixth annual International Fanworks Day will take place on February 15, 2020 and the OTW has many activities planned to mark the occasion, including some exciting new events as well as a few old favorites. Whoever you are and wherever you’re logging in from, the OTW cordially invites you to celebrate IFD with us!

Check out the post below to find out what we have on the menu for the days leading up to February 15.

1. IFDrabble: A few weeks ago, we put out a call for drabbles, drawbles and other short fanworks based on the prompt: “characters react to discovering fanworks they are in.” What if Aang and the gaang picked up some fanworks and started comparing who has more fans? Or what if Bucky Barnes got onto AO3 and learned of Steve Rogers’s plan to go back in time without bringing him along?

There is still time to create and post your response to the challenge, using the AO3 tag ‘International Fanworks Day 2020’ so that we can find your works. Vidders, artists, writers, podficcers, and all other creators are invited to contribute. On social media, use the #IFDrabble tag and who knows? We might signal boost your work. We will be reblogging, retweeting and reccing a selection of IFDrabbles from now until IFD.

2. Favorite Fanworks Tropes: This event is for fanworks creators and consumers and your response can be as long or short as you prefer. Here’s what to do: go onto social media or leave a comment below and tell us about your favorite fanworks tropes. Do you love fix-it fics? Soulmarks? Omegaverse or ABO? Maybe you can’t stop reading time-travel plots. Whatever the trope, tell us what it is and why you love it!

If you’re on social media, remember to tag your post with #IFD2020 and OTW social media moderators could signal boost your post on the official accounts.

But that’s not all. Maybe you have a particular fanwork that took this trope and made you fall in love with it. If so, bookmark it now and take a look at the next event below.

3. Feedback Fest: This one’s for the fanworks consumers! Feedback Fest is a chance to show your favorite fanworks some love, and to get some great recommendations from others. We will publish a Feedback Fest post on February 13th, explaining how you can participate and share your recs with others. In the meantime, keep an eye out for your favorite fanworks by bookmarking and saving URLs.

4. Fanlore Challenge: Fanlore is participating in IFD, too! Every day from February 10-16, Fanlore will post different challenges on their Tumblr, their Twitter, their Dreamwidth, and on Fanlore itself for all editors to participate in. How well do you know your fandom? It’s time to show off your knowledge and contribute to the Fanlore wiki!

5. Games and Fan Chat: On the big day itself, February 15th, the OTW will be hosting a chat in a Public Discussion chat room. Join us between 23:00 UTC February 14th (What time is that where I live?) and 04:00 UTC February 16th (What time is that where I live?) for word games, creation challenges, trivia, and the ever-present stream of chat with other fans! Places in the chat room are limited and last year, demand was high, but if you don’t get in the first time then please try again later! The chat room will be moderated in English by OTW volunteers. We will post a detailed games and activities schedule before the day itself.