Archive of Our Own

What is it?
Simply, it’s an anonymous fandom gift exchange held during the last months of the year. Fanfic writers and fan artists sign up, giving their offers and requests, and are then given someone else’s request to create for. Who you’re creating for is kept secret until gifts are posted.

Who can participate?
Any fic writer or digital/traditional artist (of age 18 and up). You must simply be able to meet the minimum requirements, detailed above.

Where is this happening?
Tumblr; optionally on discord, and on AO3 for fic (and art) posting. Important information will be posted to the event tumblr. You don’t have to join the discord server - I can send you your assignment over email, if you say you want that when signing up. If you do join, I will be using the discord @everyone function to remind people of upcoming deadlines and such. There will be an AO3 collection.

How does gifter/giftee matching happen?
On a basis of offers and requests.
At sign up, you will first provide a list of characters and relationships (be they platonic or romantic/sexual) you offer, as well as things you will absolutely not create for.
After that, you will detail your request, again giving characters and relationships, and what you do not want in your gift (DNWs). You can also optionally, meaning your creator is not required to take these into account when making your gift, put in Likes (tropes, characterization, AUs, aspects of the relationships/characters you’d like a focus on, things you like in art, etc.) and Prompts (any specific story and art prompts you may have). There’s also a space to put any of your V details, if you have a custom one/s - visual references, background details that aren’t in the game, etc.; these are again optional for both you and your creator.
When signing up, you also have the ability to opt-in to receive and/or create for relationships and characters that you didn’t explicitly offer/request but also aren’t in your DNWs.
You can offer and request fic, art or both.
Matching will be done by hand.
You are only expected to create one piece. You may offer to create fic, art, or both, but you’re only expected to do one.

Is NSFW/18+ content allowed?
Yes. The game itself is 18+ and contains sex scenes, and as stated above and in the rules, the exchange itself is 18+ participants only. When you sign up, you will be asked if you’re okay with having your gift contain sex/be of explicit sexual nature (full frontal nudity included for art) or not. NSFW content is opt-in. Additionally, if you say ‘yes’ it is not guaranteed you will for sure get NSFW fic/art. Note that this is not a smut exchange so you can’t request only NSFW fic/art.

Is this game-canon only or are things from Edgerunners or the tabletop allowed as well?
This is focused on the game, but Edgerunners and TTRPG are both allowed. Though make sure to respect it if your recipient says they don’t want anything outside of the game!

What is ‘DNW’ exactly?
DNW stands for Do Not Want. That is, anything that you don’t want to appear in your gift and anything you will not create. This includes: any and all triggers, squicks, relationships/characters/tropes/interpretations/AUs/etc. that for whatever reason you don’t want to create or receive. An explanation for why you DNW something is not needed or expected. Respecting DNWs when creating gifts is mandatory.

What is a ‘pinch hit’/’pinch hitter’?
A pinch hit is a fanwork produced for a request that's in need of fulfillment either because there were no offers that could be matched to it or because the participant assigned the request withdrew from the exchange (or because, after posting, the work turned out to contain something that was DNW’d). A pinch hitter is the person who does the pinch hit - they may be regular participants of the exchange, or they may have signed up to be only pinch hitters. If one signs up to be only a pinch hitter, they will not receive a gift work.

My recipient has a mile long list of characters and relationships! Do I have to include ALL of them in my fic/art?
No. You only HAVE to make something for ONE of their requested characters or relationships.

I got a recipient who says they’re OK with NSFW art/fic, but I am not comfortable with creating NSFW art/fic, what do I do?
Create non-NSFW art/fic that matches their requested relationships and/or characters as usual. As stated above, NSFW content is opt-in and no one can request only that. Yes to receiving NSFW content is only relevant if you, the creator, are also willing to create such. Otherwise, feel free to ignore it.

I got matched with someone on one thing, but one of their other requests looks cool - is it okay to fulfill that request even though it’s not what we matched on originally/I didn’t opt-in to creating non-offered non-DNW ships or characters?
It is! Basically, I just need everyone to receive fic/art for ONE of their requests. If you get inspired by something even if that isn’t what you originally offered, go on ahead and create!

Will there be organized beta reading for writers?
No, sorry. There isn’t a requirement that all fic be beta-read, so there won’t be anything organized. You will also not be able to ask in the discord server if other participants would be willing to beta for you as well, since betaing a fic will be confirmation that you’re not that person’s creator - which compromises the whole point of the anonymity. If you really feel like you need a beta for your writing and don’t already have one, I’d suggest asking someone you know isn’t participating to do it for you!