Welcome and Introduction Post

[florianschild]

Come one, come all! Step right up to the very first Sunshine Revival challenge!

Is that popcorn and funnel cakes that I smell? And if you listen carefully you can hear the cheerful notes of the Calliope in the distance. You may have noticed we've got some summer carnival sounds and aromas in the air. Which is fitting, since that is our theme this year! Prompts will be inspired by elements of our summer carnival, but don't worry: the prompts themselves are very open-ended and you can write about whatever strikes your fancy.

The format of the Challenge posts will be a little new. Each challenge post will have two prompts: one will be for general journaling (for example, reflecting on personal experiences or sharing thoughts about a topic) and another will be asking you to create something (such as a written or visual work) based on a theme. You're welcome to choose one or both prompts and they are very flexible so if the prompt says "write a story" you can of course write a poem, share a plot bunny, make a mixtape, draw a picture, or do anything else you want; it's up to you how you want to participate!

The Sunshine Revival will kick off with the first prompts on July 1st, but I wanted to say hello and get everyone acquainted before we get started. We'll have a few "pre-challenge" posts over the next few days. Here's the schedule if you need it:

June 28 - Introduction Post
June 29 - Meet the Mods Post
June 30 - Friending Meme
July 1-25 - Challenge Posts every 4 days (7 in total)
July 31 - Wrap up post

I encourage everyone to take some time over the next few days to shake the dust (or pollen perhaps?) off your journals. Clean up your sticky post, add new interests to your profile and remove old ones, consider adding a Transformative Works policy or an AI policy to your profile, and my own special request: Please consider linking to your blog from your AO3 profile! Encourage your friends to do it too! It's fun to find an author you like and then follow them to see what they're reading and doing.

I think that's all for now, but stay tuned for lots more. I'm really happy to be reviving this celebration of summer for the community. I hope it's a lot of fun for everyone!

Comments

[kitarella_imagines]

Good evening!

What a lovely introduction post, very atmospheric.

I hope I can join in this year as my paid work is taking a pause.

[florianschild]

Thank you, I’m glad it hit the mark! I hope you’re able to join in too! Thanks for being here. :D

[luna_moon]

Thank you for hosting! I look forward to participating :]

[linky]

Thank you so much for hosting this event! Excited to take part. <3

[pauraque]

I'm looking forward to participating!

[used_songs]

This looks like it will be fun! Thank you for hosting. :)

[author_by_night]

Thanks again for doing this!

[minoanmiss]

I really like the double daily prompt idea!

[thewitchlingshelf]

I’m really looking forward to joining in, dusting off my journal, and seeing what kind of carnival magic we all create together. Thank you for bringing this to life—it feels like exactly the kind of summer spell we need. 🌞🎪✨

[badfalcon]

I'm trying to come back to using my DW so I'm excited for this!

[haunted_cherries]

Such a lovely intro post!! ; u; Thank you so so much for running this event, and I can't WAIT to participate!! ❤️

[alchemicink]

Sounds like fun! Thanks for running this, I'm really looking forward to it 😊

[sisterdivinium]

Very curious to see the challenge in action (as well as thankful for the reminder to link from AO3 to one's journal...I had been meaning to do that for ages)!

[octahedrite]

I'm excited for this! Thanks for hosting!

[xeena]

I am excited for this! Ty for hosting.

[berryfairyghost]

Yaay! So fun! ^^ I smiled all throughout reading the intro post because I'm just excited about it. haha~
Happy sunshine carnival, everyone! I can't wait to write and to read participating posts! 🌞🎆✨🎟️🎠🎡🎪

[florianschild]

My pleasure! Welcome to the challenge!

[florianschild]

Aww you’re welcome! Thank you for being here!

[florianschild]

Yay! Happy you’re here!

[florianschild]

I hope so! :D Thanks for being here!

[florianschild]

My pleasure! I’m glad you’re here!

[florianschild]

Oh, I’m really glad to hear that! Thanks for the feedback! Welcome to the challenge!

[florianschild]

You get it! :D I hope you have a magical summer!

[florianschild]

Oh well in that case extra welcome to you! I hope you enjoy the challenge!

[florianschild]

That’s amazing! Welcome back!

[florianschild]

Ahhh thank you!! Thank you for being here! :D

[florianschild]

Yay, welcome to the challenge! Thanks for being here.

[florianschild]

Me too lol. I’m so happy you’re going to link from AO3 to your blog! I love when writers do that! :D

Welcome to the challenge!

[florianschild]

You’re welcome! I’m glad you’re here!

[florianschild]

Of course, thank you for being here!

[florianschild]

Ahhh thank you for saying that; I’m so glad I made you smile!

Welcome to the challenge!

[dr_zook]

I'm looking forward to the show! Thank you for running this and your excitement. :D

[majoukoufu]

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to participate, since offline is hectic RN. But I'll give it a shot if I can. Thanks for picking this event up.

[kshandra]

I tried to post a couple of times earlier this weekend, but the preview/post comment buttons weren't showing up on my phone for some reason...

Anyway, this is probably the worst time for me to be considering something like this, as I am literally in the process of moving right now, but I'd like to at least try.

[zenigotchas]

I never got to do the original sunshine challenge and I'm happy I get to try the revival. I'm super anxious but excited!

[bluedreaming]

Excited!

[autobotscoutriella]

Hello! I'm a little late to the intro post, but this is exciting and I'm so glad you're doing it! I helped out with the original sunshine challenge way back in the day, and I'm thrilled to see somebody picking it back up again. Looking forward to the challenges!

[thatjustwontbreak]

Very appreciative you're doing this! It's such a fine vibe and I'm really enjoying everyone's posts. :D