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!