ASSIGNMENTS ARE OUT!

Woohoo, time for creating! If you signed up but haven't received an assignment via the email you use for AO3, please email the mods at blackemporiumexchange@gmail.com.

↳ Helpful Links:

Rules & Assignment Requirements || Participation Walkthrough Guide || FAQ || Requests on Ao3 || Tagset || Nominations Spreadsheet || Request Database || Parent Collection (All Past Years)

Assignments Due: August 27, 2023 @ 9 AM US Pacific / 12 PM US Eastern / 4 PM UTC+0 || Countdown

For a how-to-guide of the whole exchange that includes all of the information in this post, please take a look at our Participation Walkthrough Guide and FAQ.

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO CREATING & POSTING UNDER THE CUT:

1. 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.

2. TIME TO CREATE!

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").

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.

↳ Assignment Requirements

For this exchange, a work must fit the below criteria to be considered "complete" and officially fulfill your assignment.
It is the responsibility of all exchange participants to only submit works that meet these requirements, so please review them carefully.

Fic Assignments

Gifted solely to your assigned recipient;
Must be a minimum of 1,000 words;
The main pairing of the work must be one of the recipient's requested pairings;
Does not exceed the rating limit of the recipient;
Does NOT include any of your recipient's do-not-wants (DNWs)*;
The work must be original and can be enjoyed without any context other than the work itself;
Has a definite beginning, middle, and end; feels "complete" even if the ending may be open-ended;
Does NOT contain an excessive amount of spelling, punctuation, formatting, and/or grammar errors;
Appropriately tagged for rating and content, especially if it contains content that falls under AO3's Archive Warnings. Alternatively, you can utilize the "Choose Not to Warn" option;
Cannot consist of AI-based writing (i.e. running prompts through a chat bot).

Art Assignments

Gifted solely to your assigned recipient;
Must be, at minimum, clean lineart (hand-drawn or digital);
The main pairing of the work must be one of the recipient's requested pairings;
Does not exceed the rating limit of the recipient;
Does NOT include any of your recipient's do-not-wants (DNWs)*;
The work must be original and can be enjoyed without any context other than the work itself;
Appropriately tagged for rating and content, especially if it contains content that falls under AO3's Archive Warnings. Alternatively, you can utilize the "Choose Not to Warn" option;
Cannot consist of AI generated artwork (i.e. running prompts through an image creation bot).

*In some cases, listed DNWs may be seen as unenforceable by moderators. See "Do-Not-Wants (DNWs)" section for more.

If you sign up to participate, but realize you either need an extension (more time) or need to default (leave the exchange without completing your assignment), please contact a mod ASAP. There is no shame in defaulting and no reason has to be given. However, the earlier we know, the earlier we can plan for it and arrange for a pinch hitter if needed.

↳ 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.

3. POSTING YOUR WORK

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.