You're such a Wordshaker~♫

Hello all! We're a bit overdue for a reshuffle (it's been a year!). So, this is a good time to check in, check out, or sign up if you're new or know people who might be interested. We'll still keep what's already working; don't worry about us breaking up teams!

Like last time, we've opted to use a form instead of having comments on different posts. (Don't worry, the questions are still the same!) Since this is now the second round of using the form, we've divided it into two streams. Whether you're continuing, leaving, coming back after being away, or new, please fill out appropriate form:






If you have any questions, have trouble with the form (or are worried we didn't receive it), you're welcome to comment on this post or contact Mousi (remousapelli on twitter and mousapelli on gmail) or Ansa (hi @ bluedreaming.co) directly. We're also available on the discord server. In addition, here's the official rules post (always the most recent post).

Reminder on how this works: we'll all finish our current rounds while waiting for people to fill out the form. If your team is done but you're bored, feel free to write for team sonic. It will take a bit to receive all the information and organize the teams, and it's also heading towards the end of the year so I imagine we all have a lot on our plates.

Please do share the word about shiritori, and direct people to this post! (There's an image in the post, so it should look reasonably nice if you share it on your social media platform of choice.) You can also share the image and Airtable form directly wherever you would like:

link to image: https://images.squidge.org/images/2022/10/18/shiritori-reshuffle.jpg link to new player form: https://airtable.com/shrbRFqO8skQjjKGo link to returning player form: https://airtable.com/shrGJGdCRiuPNG1Gw

Welcome to all, both newcomers and seasoned participants, and best wishes to you if you're leaving!

This post was also cross-posted to LiveJournal and linked on Twitter. (CSS tips credit)

( reshuffle and signups )

Hello all~ Shiritori is due a reshuffle, so please comment below if you still want to play and/or have been sent here by someone to sign up. We also welcome any questions, comments, and suggestions for improvement. This is also the time to let us know if you don't want to be included in the next round. (If that's the case, just drop a quick goodbye comment or contact the mods directly.)

Please include in your comment:

Current captains: do you still want to be captain?
Non-captains: are you open to being a captain?
What is the best/preferred way for your captain to contact you? (especially if this has changed)
What fandoms are you currently writing?
Do you want to be on the slow team (5 day turn) or a regular team (3 day turn)?
Do you want to be on the sonic starter list? (It's been a bit, but this is still a thing.)
How often would you ideally like your turn to happen? i.e. once a month, twice a month, no more than once a month, &c (Sorting this way seems to work well.)
Do you tend to skip often? (Skipping is totally fine, but it's hard when one team has a lot of skips in a row, so we'd like to spread that out a little too.)
Is there anything else you think we need to know about sorting you with captains or teammates? i.e. I really like the team I'm on, I tend to end with explicit words, I want to be on a mostly [insert-fandom] team, &c

If it's helpful, you can copy from the box:

<b>Current captains: do you still want to be captain?</b> Y/N (delete line if not applicable) <b>Non-captains: are you open to being a captain?</b> Y/N (delete line if not applicable) <b>What is the best/preferred way for your captain to contact you?</b> <b>What fandoms are you currently writing?</b> <b>Do you want to be on the slow team (5 day turn) or a regular team (3 day turn)?</b> slow/regular <b>Do you want to be on the sonic starter list?</b> Y/N <b>How often would you ideally like your turn to happen?</b> <b>Do you tend to skip often?</b> Y/N <b>Is there anything else you think we need to know about sorting you with captains or teammates?</b>

If you have any questions, you're also welcome to Mousi (remousapelli on twitter and mousapelli on gmail) or Ansa (hi @ bluedreaming.co or bluedreaming # 3382 on discord) directly with any questions or anything you don't want to put in your comment publicly. In addition, here's the official rules post (always the most recent post).

Reminder on how this works: we'll all finish our current rounds (team 2 will still go ahead with a final round, other teams, it's up to you!) while waiting for people to comment their participation/parting. If your team is done but you're bored, feel free to write for team sonic. Mousi or Ansa will reply to comments as they are left, but there will be some delay so please don't be alarmed--this usually takes a bit. It's also end-of-school-year and massive-work-website-project-season, and many of you likely also have a lot on your plates right now.

Please do share the word about shiritori, and direct people to this post! (There's an image in the post, so it should look reasonably nice if you share it on your social media platform of choice.)

Welcome to anyone newcomers and seasoned participants, and best wishes to you if you're leaving!

Side note: does anyone use discord? Is there any interest in a discord server?

This post has also been crossposted to LiveJournal: https://writetomyheart.livejournal.com/987889.html

We (mousapelli and bluedreaming) were looking at the past frequency of reshuffles, and especially considering how many people joined in our semi shuffle and also considering some requests from writers, we’ve decided to call a full reshuffle! For newcomers who haven’t gone through a full shuffle yet, it’s nothing dramatic, just a simple roll call: all you need to do is comment below saying “Yes I’m still in” or “No, I’m taking a break”. You can also comment on any requests; we might not be able to fulfill all of them, but we’ll definitely take them into account (such as, please put me with JE people, or I like my team but maybe just shuffle us, or maybe a person or type of ending word you want to follow after). This is also the time to say whether you want to remain in sonic, leave sonic, or join sonic. And, last but not least, if you’re currently a team captain, are you okay with remaining a captain? And if you’re not a captain but are interested in potentially being one, add that to your comment!

This is also the time to join shiritori! Just comment below indicating you’d like to join, and include any useful information (such as whether you’d also like to be tagged on twitter, and what your twitter is). Welcome! Please tell your friends and link this wherever you’d like! Shiritori accepts all fandom writers as well as original fiction. If it’s helpful, here’s the rules post.

Sometimes we've had smaller teams, and after the semi-shuffle our teams kept getting bigger it seems, so we'd also like to ask you all what size of team you prefer. We'll try to take the final results into consideration, especially when it comes to deciding how many teams to have.

[Poll #2046523]

NOTE: There's been some interest in a "slow team" with a writing time of five days instead of three days. (This wouldn't be an extra team like team sonic, but rather a regular team, just with a longer writing time). Please check this poll if you're interested!

During the reshuffle period, we let all the teams finish their last cycle before we start fresh again with the new team line-ups, so here’s where we’re at right now:
Team 1: softboys is up! (early-team cycle)
Team 2: Team captain faded_lace is just starting a new cycle, and since the other teams are early in their run, Team 2 will have one more run through as well.
Team 3: elindar is up! (mid-team cycle)
Team 4: aleena_mokoia is up! (early-team cycle)
Team 5: ceeri is up! (early-team cycle)
Team Sonic: the latest sonic has already expired so see the note further down about the Team Sonic Reshuffle Free-for-all!

This is probably a good time to mention that there have been a few additions made to the fandom tags, so if you write kpop .

There has been a bucket fandom: smtown tag for a while, made primarily for Liyin who doesn’t fit into any group tags but who has well over ten fics, but this tag should also be used as the fandom tag for any SM artists who don’t have their own fandom tag, primarily SNSD, TVXQ, NCT etc. Do not tag your fic with a group fandom tag like fandom: exo as well as fandom: smtown, unless you are also featuring an SM artist who doesn’t have a group fandom tag. There are also two new general kpop tags, (in the vein of the fandom: general juniors tag), since there are quite a few fics being written with kpop groups that don’t have a fandom tag, and we felt it would be more organized than dumping everything into the tag fandom: others. Please welcome fandom: general kpop boys and fandom: general kpop girls. Please note that if you write a male kpop idol as a genderswap, they should still be tagged with their respective fandom tag, not fandom: general kpop girls. Just also use the warning: it’s a girl tag to indicate that it's genderswap. A note has been added to the rules post to reflect this change, and explain that fics should always be tagged with the smallest applicable fandom tag (i.e. the group fandom tag if there is one), and that larger bucket tags should not be used unless smaller tags do not exist for that/those character(s).

NEW SPECIAL: Since it can take a bit for everyone to comment on this post and for the teams to finish their cycle, Mousi and I are trying a new thing this time: From now until the new line up post goes up, EVERYONE (all returning and just-signing up members) is a temporary member of team sonic. This isn’t a regular cycle of team sonic, It’s the team sonic reshuffle free-for-all, which means that, unlike regular sonic where stories expire after 3 days, any team sonic special story posted after this reshuffle post is posted will not expire until the new line-up post is posted, at which time all team sonic special stories expire, and team sonic will restart as normal with the rest of the teams. When you post your sonic story during the free-for-all period, please tag your post *team sonic as usual, but in the title of your post, please put [team sonic special] so that it’s clear that it’s not the regular cycle [team sonic].


Team Sonic Guideline:
Team sonic is an "extra" shiritori team; writers can be on a standard team as well as team sonic, or they can just be on a standard team. In our standard shiritori, (as per the rules), person a posts a story and tags person b, who uses the last word(s) from person a's story as the beginning of the story they (person b) post, and tag person c. Each person has three days to post or skip. In team sonic, person a posts a story, and anyone on team sonic (not just person b but also person c, d, e etc.) can use the last word(s) to start their team sonic story. Where the three days comes into play is that person a's story's last word(s) can only be used to start a new story for three days. After three days, person a's story is expired. This doesn't any other team sonic stories written using person a's story's words; their stories each have three days after posting before they expire. This means that if person a writes a story, person b and person c can both write stories using the last word(s) of person a's story, and then person a can use the last word(s) of person b's story or person c's story to post a new team sonic story, or they can even write two. As long as a team sonic story is not expired, its last words can be used. Person a just isn't allowed to write a new team sonic story using the last word(s) of their own story. If many team sonic writers are actively writing, this means that it is possible that there will be many story's last word(s) to choose from. If all of the active team sonic stories have expired, then anyone from team sonic can start a new story and begin a new cycle. Team sonic stories should always be tagged the same as standard team stories, except that the team tag used should be *team sonic and the title of the post should include [team sonic].


Team Sonic Special Guideline:
As stated above, team sonic special works exactly like team sonic, except that there's no three day rule. One of the mods will start off team sonic special (here's the story for this reshuffle period) and after that everyone is welcome to jump in. Any team sonic special stories posted will not expire until the new line up is announced, after which point all team sonic special stories will expire and a regular cycle of team sonic will begin. You do not need to be a member of team sonic to join team sonic special; anyone in shiritori is welcome/encouraged to participate. Team sonic special posts should be tagged *team sonic as usual, but in the title of your post, please put [team sonic special].

The first story of the Team Sonic Reshuffle Free-for-all is unforeseen circumstances.

Please also feel free to ask any questions/make any comments here!

Note: captains (cairistiona, faded_lace, troubleseason) please spread this to your team members in case they miss this!