Participation Walkthrough Guide

[blackemporiummod]

We changed a few things this year, so to help everyone out, we created a walkthrough of the exchange. If you have specific questions, there's also an FAQ here, or you can email us at blackemporiumexchange@gmail.com.

What is this exchange about?

Black Emporium is a fanwork gift exchange, meant to foster growth in rare pairings in the Dragon Age fandom. For the purposes of this gift exchange, a rare pairing is any pairing with less than 300 completed works on AO3 (except for ships involving Rook; see here for more detail!)

How do I participate?

The exchange is run through AO3. If you need an AO3 account to participate, email the mods at blackemporiumexchange@gmail.com for an invite.

The idea of an exchange is to create a fanwork and receive one.

This exchange runs in stages:

• Nominations: participants submit pairings for use in the exchange.
• Sign-Ups: participants list what they want to receive and what they're willing to create.
• Matching: participants are matched based on their offers and requests; this exchange matches on pairings, interest in receiving/creating "E" or not, and the type of work (fanfic or fanart)
• Creating and Posting: creators have the time between when assignments are given and the works due date to complete and turn in their assignments. All times for due dates are given in EST.
• Please see the Assignment Requirements section for more details on what will be considered a complete work.
• Works Reveals: works are revealed anonymously at first. We do not open our exchange until all participants who completed a sign-up receive a gift that satisfies the assignment requirements.
• Creator Reveals: After a week, creators will also be revealed.

For more information on each stage, consult the applicable section in the walkthrough for detailed, step-by-step instructions and guidance.

If you do not wish to sign-up, you are still welcome to participate by creating extra works (aka treats) or commenting on fic/art when works are revealed!

Treats

A treat is any fanwork created for the exchange that isn't a participant's official assignment.

You can create treats for anyone participating, even if you're not signed up, so long as they indicated interest in their sign up description box. You can even create a treat for your recipient in addition to your assignment, if there are multiple prompts that really grab you.

Anyone can create a treat, whether or not you've signed up officially in the exchange. While we believe in the, "Yay! More rare pair fanworks!! More slices of cake for everyone!!!" mode of thinking, participants are never, ever expected to create treats.

Treat Requirements

All criteria for treats are the same as for Assignment Requirements, except that:

1. Fanfic treats can be any length and fanart treats can be any medium
2. Treats can be gifted to more than one recipient, so long as it fits everyone's requests/DNWs/ratings.
3. Treats can be gifted to the exchange as a whole, so long as the central pairing(s) are eligible.

How To Receive Treats

Treats are OPT-IN. You will need to enable treats on AO3,and include your preferences for treats in each request in the description box. If you only want certain types of treats, please use the description box to state your preferences.

If you do NOT specify treat preferences, we will assume you do not want to receive any!

You can use the following template to state your treat preferences:

• Open to Treats: Yes / No
• Open to Treat types: Fanart, Fanfiction
• Open to Multi-recip treats: Yes / No

If you are open to all types of treats, you can simply say "Treats welcome!"

Multi-Recipient Treats

When creating multi-recip treats, try to keep the following in mind:

• Does the treat hit anything on any recipients' DNW list, including whether or not they're open to receiving multi-recipient treats?
• Does the treat fit requests for all recipients?

It's better to create a treat for fewer people that closely fits all recipients' requests and preferences than to gift a treat to many people that only fits one person's requests.

Do-Not-Wants (DNWs)

Do-Not-Wants (DNWs) are things you do not want to see in works gifted to you; creators are strictly forbidden from including them in their gifts for you.

Your DNWs can range from "little squicks that bug me and pull me out of a work" to "this subject material is triggering and I will not read it." You do not have to explain nor justify your DNWs.

In order for your DNWs to be enforceable by a moderator, you must include them in your sign up.

Here are some common DNWs people have listed in the past:

• Any common AUs you don't want e.g., High School, Modern No Magic, Omegaverse, etc.
• Any Dragon Age characters or World State options you don't want e.g., Giant Spiders, Sandal, Blue Hawke, Alistair Becomes King, Multiple Inquisitors, etc.
• For smut, kinks you do not want Tip: If this is too overwhelming for you to list everything you don't want, a good blanket DNW is "no unrequested kinks."
• Certain mediums, tenses, POVs, or word counts that you don't want e.g., Embedded Images in Fics, Present Tense, 2nd Person Perspective, Fics that exceed 5k, etc.
• Certain topics or subject material that you don't want to see e.g., homophobia/transphobia, sexual assault, mages becoming Tranquil, self harm, drug/alcohol use, mental health crises, etc.

That said, there are some DNWs that we cannot enforce.These are very few in number and are generally only used in the following situations:

• DNWs not in the AO3 Sign Up details box, e.g., DNWs only posted in your letter, or mentioned in passing in the Discord server, etc.
• DNWs that railroad your creator into one specific gift, e.g.. "DNW anything but sentient carrot AU"
• Unreasonable DNWs that would put an unfair burden on the creator of your work by adding an extreme layer of difficulty, e.g., "No magic in my canon-state Anders/Vivienne request, not even mentions," "no letter 'E'", "no Sandal for my request for Sandal/Other-Person."
• Overly vague DNWs, or DNWs that need further clarification, e.g., "No annoying guys" - which guys? what's considered annoying?; "No death" - ALL character death? non-canonical character death? background passing mentions?; etc.
• Moralizing DNWs, e.g., "No gross kinks," etc.

If we see an issue, a mod will reach out to you on how to adjust your wording. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to message a mod for guidance!

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A Walkthrough of Each Stage

Nominations

During nominations, you can nominate different pairings/groups that you would like to offer or request (or just would like to see) in the exchange. As nominations come in, the moderators will go through them and ensure that all those that meet the criteria we use to define a rare pair/group are accepted.

Important things to remember

• Pairings/groups must be nominated in order to be requested during the next phase of the exchange, Sign-Ups.
• Nominations require a set format that is listed under Nomination Formatting.
• All nominations should be under Dragon Age - All Media Types (for the first 20 nominations) and Dragon Age (Video Games) (for the second 20 nominations).
• Pairings/groups cannot have more than 300 completed works on AO3. (Except Rook, whose limit is 600 completed works; see here for more info.)
• We allow original characters in this exchange as well as canon characters.
• Nominating a pairing/group is not "binding"; you do not need to request or offer the pairing later.

Nomination Formatting

All nominations should be nominated under the "Dragon Age - All Media Types" and "Dragon Age (Video Games)" fandoms. Please only use the second option if you are nominating more than 20 relationships; this is because Ao3 does not let you nominate more than 20 in a single fandom.

Nominations do not need to auto-complete to be accepted; if Ao3 does not complete your ideal nomination, just type it in manually.

For romantic/sexual relationships, please nominate the characters you wish to nominate with a "/" between each character. For familial, platonic, or otherwise non-sexual requests, please use a "&." e.g., "Meredith Stannard & Orsino" would not have any sexual or romantic undertones. "Meredith Stannard/Orsino" would be considered sexual and/or romantic, even if the fanwork itself didn't include any sexual acts.

Nominations should be spelled correctly. e.g., "Merrill", not "Meril"

Nominations should ideally be in alphabetical order, by last name. If a character does not have a last name, use the first name instead. e.g., "Zevran Arainai/The Iron Bull/Solas"

If a character has multiple names or aliases, go by their "main" name. e.g., "Blackwall", not "Thomas 'Thom' Rainier"

For Dragon Age player-characters (such as the Warden, Hawke, Inquisitor, and Rook), we treat different surnames and gender as different characters. Female Surana will be evaluated differently from Female Brosca, Male Surana, etc.

Nominating Dragon Age "Player Characters"

For the purposes of this challenge, the Dragon Age protagonists will be considered different characters based on their gender and surname. The three gender options we utilize for this exchange are: Male, Female, and Nonbinary (written as NB to save space).

When nominating player characters that are not Rook, please format as such:

• Male [Warden Surname / Hawke / Inquisitor Surname] (e.g., Male Trevelyan)
• Female [Warden Surname / Hawke / Inquisitor Surname] (e.g., Female Hawke)
• NB [Warden Surname / Hawke / Inquisitor Surname] (e.g., NB Brosca)

When nominating Rook, you must specify gender, lineage, and faction, in that order. Do not include "Rook" as part of the nomination; it's not needed. You must also put Rook FIRST in their ship, regardless of alphabetical order. For ships of 3+ people, make sure you alphabetize the other characters involved!

So, for example: "Male Qunari Ingellvar/Male Cousland" will be accepted as a nomination; "Rook/Warden" will not.

You can nominate pairings where one version of the pairing is over the limit as long as the version you nominate qualifies. For example, you can request "Male Lavellan/Solas" or "NB Lavellan/Solas," even if "Female Lavellan/Solas" is over the limit. This also applies to the ineligible Rook ships; "NB Dwarf Laidir/Lucanis Dellamorte" is acceptable but "Female Human de Riva/Lucanis Dellamorte" is ineligible.

Customized or individualized Wardens/Hawkes/Inquisitors are not valid nominations. For example, "Mary Trevelyan/Vivienne" would be ineligible; the requester would need to use "Female Trevelyan/Vivienne," "Male Trevelyan/Vivienne" or "NB Trevelyan/Vivienne."

In your prompts in your sign-up, you can request preferred details (such as specific OCs, a first name, looks, personality traits, class, background, etc.), and creators may choose to incorporate those elements into their gift for you. However, creators are not required to incorporate those preferred details, and works will not be checked for that by moderators.

Nominating Characters from Other Canons (i.e. Crossovers)

We allow crossovers from other series so long as they are interacting with at least one canonical character. However, when nominating a character from another specific series, please put the name of the fandom the character is from in parenthesis after the name, for example: "The Iron Bull & James Vega (Mass Effect)"

For crossovers that are from different media within the Dragon Age fandom, no specification is needed, e.g., "Merrill/Solas."

Nominating Other Original Characters

Original Characters who are not Wardens/Hawkes/Inquisitors/Rooks are also allowed to be nominated, provided they follow the following guidelines:

• The OC is listed in such a way as to give someone freedom in how to write them.
• OCs should be generalized or archetypal. e.g., "my OC Gerald D'Vivir" is too individualized and customized, but "Male Orlesian Noble" is eligible
• A good rule of thumb here is whether the character idea can be summed up in 3 or less words; if you can, it is probably a good option. If you cannot, it probably is too complex for this kind of exchange. e.g., "Tal-Vashoth Mercenary" or "Original Templar Character" is eligible; but "Older Blonde Warrior Dwarven Warden Widower" is not
• If the gender of an OC is considered important to your request, please include it. If you are fine with any gender option, gender does not need to be added, and the creator of the work can choose their choice of gender options for the character. e.g., "Orlesian Noble" or "Female Orlesian Noble"
• The OC is not listed in such a way that would, essentially, reflect the spirit of a canon character that is otherwise not permitted in a relationship.
• As an example, while it is possible to have an Original Female Elf Inquisitor who is not Lavellan, it is so close to canon based on that description that it would essentially function as the same character.

Sign-Ups - Requests

Once nominations are finished, you'll be able to sign up. In your sign-up, you'll specify the works you'd like to receive and the works you're willing to create. (They do not necessarily have to be the same!)

You must fill out at least three requests and three offers. You may only select each pairing once, but may give multiple ideas per pairing in your prompt.

If you are interested in receiving Mature- or Explicit-rated works, you must be at least 18 years old and opt-in by checking the appropriate box ("E"); this is not a guarantee you will receive a higher level.

You will have to fill out several fields on the sign-up form:

Relationships

Here you can write in the relationships that you wish to request. As long as it is part of the tag set/eligible nominated pairings, it should be able to be selected here.

If your chosen relationship is in the tag-set but isn't auto-completing, this is unfortunately a bug on AO3's end that we cannot fix -- but if you copy and paste your relationship from the tag-set into this field, you should be able to submit. (Please contact moderators via email at blackemporiumexchange@gmail.com if you get an error and let us know what the error was.)

You may list between 1-4 pairings in the same Request field. That does not (necessarily) mean you want all three ships in the same fanwork. We allow multiple pairings in the same Request Field because it allows participants to request up to 40 unique pairings, rather than just 10. Some people group thematically, or by character.

Example of someone requesting a pairing.

Example of someone requesting three, non-connected pairings. The participant here loosely grouped their "platonic" ships together into one Request Field.

Additional Tags

This field is to mark if you're open to receiving fanfiction, fanart, or both (check both boxes), for this request.

Example of someone requesting ONLY fanart for any pairings listed in this Request field.

Ratings (Requests)

If you are open to receiving Mature- or Explicit-rated works, please check the box to indicate your interest. We use the AO3 ratings guide as far as judging what each rating entails.

Any participant under 18 should NOT indicate interest in M or E works, as those are intended for 18+ audiences only.

Please choose your ratings carefully! Indicating interest in receiving higher rating works does not mean you are guaranteed to receive them, just that other people will be allowed to gift them to you in this exchange. If you're not comfortable with that possibility, do not check this box.

This recipient did not check the "Explicit" box; they will not receive any Mature or Explicit level works.

Letter

This is a place to put a link to a letter, if you have one. A letter generally is a completely optional, longer version of the description field, and might include more details you'd like your creator to know, or things like pictures that are hard to paste into the description box.

Letters are commonly hosted on Dreamwidth, Tumblr, Google docs, or other such freely accessible websites.

Please note that the moderators cannot enforce any DNWs you put only in your letter.

Completely optional field. Leave blank if you don't have a letter.

Description

Please feel free to use this field to go into some detail about what you would like; this helps give the creator of your work some different ideas about what they could make for you.

If you are open to treats, please indicate interest. See "Treats" for more.

Examples of prompts or helpful information you could share with your recipient (reminder, your creator is not required to follow your prompts/likes):

• General trope likes, e.g., Fluff, First Kiss, Dwarven lore, There Was Only One Bed, Enemies to Lovers, etc.
• Stylistic likes, e.g., 2nd person writing, Tarot Card art, chat-fic, etc.
• World state options you favor that are relevant to your prompt, e.g., Anora is Queen/Alistair is King, Canon Divergent - Multiple Wardens, Modern AUs, etc.
• A sentence or two about why you like the pairing, e.g., "I love Cassandra being flustered around people she likes!"
• "What If?" prompts, especially open ended ones, e.g., "What if Blackwall did the Joining ceremony with the Hero of Ferelden in DAO? Or met HoF in the Deep Roads during the Jaws of Hakkon DLC in DAI? Would they have similar perspectives, or different?"
• Rating restriction clarifications, e.g., interested in E rated smut, but not E rated violence

Be sure to list your Do Not Wants (DNWs) -- if they're not listed in the Description box of your sign up, then the mods cannot enforce your DNWs. If your DNWs are poorly worded or go against exchange rules, they will also be considered unenforceable.

This is also where you should indicate if you are opting in to a broader range of Rook ships.

To use this option, you must have at least one Rook ship in the relationship field. Then, in your optional details box, you may say:

Opting in to:
Any [Gender] Rook
Any [Lineage] Rook
Any [Faction] Rook

And filling in your preferences accordingly.

You may combine these options, e.g., "Any Female Qunari Rook" or "Any NB Laidir". You may list as many combinations as you like. You may NOT use this to request an ineligible Rook relationship (e.g., an ineligible variant of Rook/Lucanis, Rook/Lucanis/Spite, or Rook/Emmrich.)

This information will NOT be taken into account during matching. It will simply give your creators (assigned or treaters) more options for filling your prompt. Since we will not be using it during matching, there is no need to put information about what Rooks you will or won't create for in your offers.

Example Description. Please see the FAQ for more help formulating your DNWs.

Sign-Ups - Offers

The process to Offers is similar to Requests when it comes to pairings and denoting interest in creating fanart and/or fanfic. However, there are a couple differences one should make note of:

Ratings (Offers)

If you are interested in creating Mature- or Explicit-rated works, please check the box to indicate your interest. We use the AO3 ratings guide as far as judging what each rating entails.

Any participant under 18 should NOT indicate in creating M or E works, as those are intended for 18+ audiences only.

Please choose your ratings carefully! You will be matched on this field; if you're not comfortable with receiving prompts that may include NSFW or "E" elements, do not check this box.

"Notes to mods" Field

If you want, you can write notes to the mods, but this isn't required. Some things you might want to include:

• If you are under 18 or do not want to receive any "E" requests/prompts from your recipient, please put a simple "No 'E' requests" or in your sign up. This will not disclose your age as we have adult participants who have asked this of mods over the years.
• The AO3 username of any individual(s) you don't want to be matched with. You don't have to provide a reason as to why you don't want to be matched with someone, but we will rely entirely on the name(s) you enter; if you ask not to be matched with FanficWriter69 but you meant FanficWriter96, we can't guarantee you won't get matched. For the sake of everyone's stress level, triple check any names and make sure you're giving us their AO3 username.
• Please do not use this field to ask to be matched with a specific person.

"Any Relationship" Box

If you would like, you can offer to create a work for "Any Relationship."

PLEASE ONLY CHECK THIS BOX IF YOU TRULY MEAN ANY RELATIONSHIP.

The only qualifications you can make are the category of pairings (i.e. F/F, F/M, M/M, Other, Gen, or Multi) or by DA game (i.e. DAO, DA2, DAI, DAV). You cannot differentiate by any other qualification or request.

For example, you can request "Any Relationship" but in notes to mods write "only for Multi pairings" or "only DAO" and be matched accordingly. But you cannot write "only for pairings that include Vivienne"; mods will be unable to honor that request.

An example of someone offering to create fanart and/or fanfiction for the pairing "Fenris & Donnic Hendyr," but requesting not to be matched with a specific user.

An example of someone offering to draw fanart for any F/F pairing.

Matching

After sign-ups are completed, creators and recipients are matched based on their sign-ups. Matches are one-way; that is, while it is possible A may write for B and B may write for A, you are more likely to have A writing for B, and B writing for C, and C writing for A.

You will be assigned to someone who has at least one request that matches at least one of your offers for the below two fields: relationship pairing and type of fanwork.

You will be matched with someone who requested:

• at least one of the pairings for which you offered to write or draw ("Relationship" field), and
• at least one type of fanwork you offered ("Additional Tags" field aka fanfic, fanart, or both -- if both, you can create an assignment in either format; you are not obligated to create two assignments), and
• whether or not you've both indicated interest in Mature- or Explicit-rated content ("E" checkbox)

You are guaranteed to have a match by the end of the date listed under "Assignments" in the schedule. If you do not have a match by then, please contact the mods via email.

Once matching is done, you will receive an email with your assignment and it will also be listed under "My Assignments" on AO3. Since everyone must put in at least three requests, it is likely that your assignment will include pairings that you did not request along with at least one you did.

If you do not think you'll be able to create anything for your recipient, reach out to a mod ASAP for solutions.

Creating

After you receive your assignment, you should select a pairing in your assignment that interests you and start working on your fanwork. The pairing does not have to be the one you signed up with -- if there's something else that catches your eye, you're most welcome to run with it! You will have several weeks to complete your assignment.

If your recipient provided prompts or suggestions or OCs, we recommend trying to incorporate some of them (or the spirit of them), but it isn't required. Authors and artists will not be forced to create content they do not want to. The only thing artists and authors are required to do is to meet the criteria for a finished assignment (see "Assignment Requirements" section).

Writers are encouraged to make use of a beta reader or sensitivity reader. If you don't know where to find a beta, contact the mods or ask in the Discord.

Adhering to Rating Levels

If you are under 18 years old, do NOT create any work Mature- or Explicit-rated.

If you are at least 18 years old AND your recipient has indicated interest in receiving gifts that are Mature- or Explicit-rated, it is your choice which rating level to go with.

"Mega-Pairing" Exceptions

Please note that we do review works with threesomes/moresomes or non-binary versions of mega-pairings to ensure that they embody the spirit of the exchange.

For example, if a work is turned in with a nonbinary character in a pairing, such as Nonbinary Lavellan/Solas, we would look at any work turned in to make sure that Lavellan is indeed nonbinary when paired with Solas and isn't referred to as "she" or "he" exclusively through the work.

Likewise, with a threesome that includes a larger pairing (such as "Female Lavellan/Solas/Vivienne"), we would like to make sure that all three characters have some representation within the work.

While not every partner needs to have equal participation, we expect any triad/moresome relationship to have some participation from all parties. Even in a V-triad, if character A is the shared point between A/B and A/C, we expect both A/B and A/C to be present in the work..

Simply put: if your mega-pair is the main component of your fic, and the third person is more of a third wheel than an active member, that goes against the spirit of the exchange.

"Complete" Assignments

Please consult the Assignment Requirements for what constitutes a "complete" assignment closely. It is the responsibility for all participants to make sure the work you create fulfills the requirements of the exchange.

If you have a question for the person you are creating for (whether for an assigned gift or for a treat), please contact the moderators via blackemporiumexchange@gmail.com. We will ask the recipient for you and relay back an answer.

Posting

All assignments must be complete and posted to the collection by the Assignments Due Date. Do not reveal your work on other platforms before the Creator Reveals date.

You may post a work to the collection at any time. If you post to the collection before Work Reveals, it will be hidden until then. You may continue to edit your fanwork until assignments are revealed.

If you post to the collection after Work Reveals, it may take a short amount of time for a moderator to approve it into the collection.

And if you post to the collection after Creator Reveals, just message a mod -- we're happy to approve it into the collection, but we cease monitoring the queue after Creator Reveals.

Submitting a work with Multiple Recipients

When you create a new work on AO3, in the field to gift to an individual, you can add all the recipients you wish to gift to.

Moderator Check-Ins

As this is a moderated exchange, after works are turned in, mods review submissions before approving them into the collection. It is the responsibility of all participants to only submit complete works.

If Assignment Requirements are NOT met, or if they require clarification, we may reach out to the creator.

We will NOT check to see if the creator included specific prompts, OCs, tropes, AUs, etc., that a recipient has requested. Those are optional details left up to the creator

Situations where we might reach out include but are not limited to:

• The work appears to be unfinished or has technical difficulties in display (no paragraph breaks, art that doesn't display, etc).
• We noticed the work violates a recipient's DNW.
• The work does not include any of the recipient's requested pairings or requested work format.
• The work appears to be addressed to the wrong recipient.
• Freeform tags are chosen that don't match the work.
• An author's note is unacceptable in behavior due to being insulting, against AO3 ToS, etc.

A message from a moderator should not be taken as a rejection nor a negative response to your work.

Pinch Hits

Pinch hits are assignments that need to be completed by someone other than the originally assigned creator. This typically happens when a creator needs to default.

If you know you need to default, contact a moderator ASAP.

When we have a pinch hit, we'll post the details of the sign-up. Anyone with an AO3 account who wants to claim it is welcome to do so, with the pinch hit going to the first person to respond. Once a pinch hit is claimed, we'll update the original post so everyone knows.

Fair warning, pinches tend to go fast.

Pinch hits are usually posted to Tumblr, Dreamwidth, and Discord, but there are two situations where that doesn't happen:

1. The recipient already has a treat that meets the minimum requirements. In that situation, the mods will contact the creator of the treat and ask if they're willing to have the treat become the recipient's main gift. If the creator agrees, the recipient is reassigned to them, the creator updates the treat to reflect the assignment, and the pinch hit is done.
2. One of the mods is able to take the pinch hit. In that case, we just reassign the recipient to whichever of us will be taking it on.

Exchange works will not be revealed until everyone who has turned in an assignment has received a gift.

Reveals!

Works are revealed anonymously at first; after a week, creators will also be revealed, and the exchange is over for the year. After this point, you may post your fic or art on your own website, blog, or other third-party websites.

Participants are encouraged to comment on all gifts received.But please leave a comment on the gift only if you can comment positively.

If you receive a gift that violates your DNWs, contact the mods, NOT the creator. We'll work with you to find a solution, such as contacting the creator to have the problem fixed or arranging an emergency pinch hit.

While we do our best when reviewing gifts, it's always possible for one of your DNWs to slip through -- and we want the chance to correct it for you. We don't expect anyone to read or look at something that violates their DNWs. We just need recipients to contact us about problems and allow us to handle them.

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