Gundam Wing Gift Exchange

• Don’t be an asshole.
• There is no content restriction. If it’s allowed on Ao3, it’s allowed in the exchange.
• All GW characters and ships are welcome. Ship or character bashing will not be tolerated.
• You need to be 18+ to participate.
• Do Not Wants (DNWs) included in participants' Ao3 signups must be respected for all gifts and treats. Do not use DNWs to box your creator in.
• Please comment on your gifts, even if it's just to thank your creator! 
• Don’t de-anon yourself: don’t talk publicly about your assignment (you can, of course, talk about it with a beta, just not in public) and don’t contact your recipient directly. If you need a clarification or want to ask a question to your recipient, ask the mod.

• Everyone can nominate up to 2 fandoms with 20 relationships each. 
  • If you’re wondering why you get 2 fandoms, it’s because I’m allowing crossovers and fusions (which should be nominated under “Crossover Fandom”).
• Nominations happen in the tagset (https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/17185) which is the list of all relationships you’ll be able to use in the exchange.
  • You need to be logged in to nominate
  • Check the tagset to see if what you want is already there. If so, congrats! If not, you can nominate them.
• Nominate what you want to offer or request, even if you’re not sure you’re going to participate yet.
  • Characters should be listed in alphabetical order (of their last name) and the relationship should be followed by (GW)
  • If you want a story about a romantic relationship, use / between each character in the relationship. Ex: “Relena Peacecraft/Hilde Schbeiker (GW)”. This doesn’t have to be sexual in nature and can be of any rating.
  • If you want the story to be about a platonic relationship, use & instead. Ex: “Mariemaia Khushrenada & Heero Yuy (GW)”. 
  • If you’re interested in a character on their own, add “& None”. Ex: “Zechs Merquise & None (GW)”
  • When nominating a crossover ship, please indicate which fandom each character is from after their name: for example, Duo Maxwell (GW)/Yuugi Mutou (YuGiOh!)
• Why all the nomination rules?
  • It’s to allow Ao3’s matching algorithm to work. The algorithm is very dumb, and will not match your request for “Character A & Character B” and another creator offering “Character B & Character A” otherwise.
• What’s next?
  • I’ll accept the nominations as they come; please allow for one day or two. If I have a question about a nomination, I’ll make a clarification post here.
  • If you see a typo or error in an accepted nomination, please tell me!
    
  • If you have any questions, feel free to reach out here as well!
    

• You can sign up with a minimum of one relationship/character requested and one offered, and a maximum of 7 requests/offers with 20 relationships each.
  
  • Important: you need a minimum of 2 ships/characters to be guaranteed a gift, but you’ll still go out to pinch hit if you request less.
• You can spread your ships over multiple requests, for example if you want to separate art and fic or m/m from f/f ships, etc.

• For each request/offer you can choose fanfic, art, or both.
• You should use the optional details section to give your Do Not Wants (DNWs).
  
  • You can also put prompts, likes, etc in your optional details or in a letter that you link in your request.
  • Please also state there if you’re open to treats (and check that you have the option checked in your preferences in “Collection, challenges and gifts” )
  • If you’d like to receive a sequel/prequel/remix of one of your own fanworks, you can say so in the request.
• Requests will be visible during signups.
• You can edit or delete your signup as long as signups are open.

If you have no possible recipients at the end of sign-ups — meaning, no other participants are requesting any of the relationships you're offering so you're unmatchable — I will contact you via your AO3 account-associated email address. You will need to either add more offers or drop out of the exchange.

If you have no possible creators at the end of sign-ups — meaning either no one offered what you requested or everyone offering what you offered is already matched-up — you’ll be an initial pinch-hit.

What are DNWs?

• A Do Not Want is an element that would make you unable to enjoy your gift (something you dislike or just don’t want to see at the moment, a squick, a trigger, etc.). 
• They must be put in the Ao3 sign up in order to be enforceable by the mod. Usually people just write “DNW:” followed by the list, separated by commas.
• Don’t justify your DNWs (= explaining why they’re DNWs to you).
• Don’t use your DNWto force your creator to create a specific type of work (like “DNWs: fic that isn’t a Victorian era AU”).
• Try to be clear and specific, but if your creator has questions, they can always ask clarifications through the mods.

Your assignment will be delivered to the email address associated with your Ao3 account. If you don't remember, you can see which email address you used at this link: archiveofourown.org/users/[YOUR USERNAME HERE]/change_email

You can also check your AO3 assignments page, at this link: archiveofourown.org/users/[YOUR USERNAME HERE]/assignments

The assignment contains a copy of all requests your recipient made (not just the one you matched on). 

To fulfill your assignment, you have to create a fanwork that matches your recipient's requested medium and one of their requested characters or relationships. You are also expected to respect your recipient's DNWs; failure to do so will result in your work being excluded from the collection & a ban.

You don’t have to create for the medium or relationship/character you originally matched on. If you have changed your mind and would prefer to create for another request your recip made, you’re free to do so.

Any other optional details in the sign up are optional, including prompts. Use them to know what your recip is likely to enjoy and get ideas, but you don’t have to include all of their likes, or prompts if they don’t work for you.

Minimums for each medium

• Fanfiction: at least 750 words of a complete, standalone fic.
• Art: completed piece on non-lined paper (doesn’t need to be colored, but it does need to look finished). Manips and graphics aren’t allowed. 

You should be the creator of your gift. AI art is not accepted.

You can create for a character or relationship you didn't initially offer, as long as your recipient requested it.

Assignments are secret. Do not talk in public about your work or your recipient until creator reveals. 

You cannot change your assignment. If, by mistake, you have received an assignment that does not match your offers, contact the mod immediately.

If you have any questions about your assignment, your recip’s DNWs, etc. : DO NOT ASK THE RECIPIENT. Ask the mod instead!

What if I can’t complete my assignment?

Life happens! There’s no shame in defaulting, but please do so as soon as possible so I can find a pinch hitter. 

To default, find your assignment under "Assignments" on your AO3 dashboard and click on "default."

If you default and your creator defaults as well, you will not be assigned a pinch hitter.

It’s also fine to default early on if you don’t think you’ll be able to finish your assignment, then get hit with sudden inspiration and pick up your original assignment again as a pinch-hit, or do it as a treat. Don’t worry about it. 

• Works are due on April 7th, 2024 at 10:00 PM UTC. Please keep your timezone in mind!
• If you can’t complete your assignment, please default as early as possible.
• Extensions (of 48h at most) may be offered, if you ask before assignments are due.
  

Posting Your Work

• Post your finished work on Ao3 by clicking on "Assignments" on your Ao3 dash, finding your assignment, and clicking "Fulfill" 
• Check that the collection and the recipient is filled in.
• You can post your work at any point between receiving your assignment and the deadline. Do not repost your work elsewhere (e.g. on tumblr) before creator reveals.
• You can edit your work after posting it.
• A saved draft does not count as a posted work. Make sure you have actually posted your work by the deadline (I’ll check).

How to post art anonymously?

• To preserve anonymity, art should not be signed, posted publicly elsewhere before the anon period is up, or posted with an image link that has your username in it
• You can of course replace the unsigned art with a signed version after the anon period is up
• If you’re uncomfortable about leaving your art unsigned for any amount of time, you can upload a blank work first, save it, then add the Ao3 work URL to the art as a watermark.

• Pinch hits occur when a request needs a new creator to volunteer — either because the request was left over during the initial matching process (sometimes everyone who could have created for someone got assigned to someone else first!) or because the original creator defaulted.
• Information about needed pinch hits will be posted on the Dreamwidth community.
• You can claim a pinch hit even if you aren't signed up for the exchange; pinch hits are expected to be filled just like assignments except that they might have different deadlines as we approach work reveals.
• The collection will not open unless everyone has the gift they are entitled to. 
  • Remember that you need a minimum of 2 ships/characters to be guaranteed a gift, but you’ll still go out to pinch hit if you request less.

• You may write/draw additional fanworks for other participants and post them in the exchange collection as treats.
• For this, just post your gift in the exchange collection and manually add in the recipient.
• Treats do not have to fulfill the minimum gift requirements. They do have to respect DNWs.
• You can post treats even if you aren't signed up for the exchange.
• If a treat reaches minimum gift requirements, it can count as a gift in the event the original creator has to default.

• PLEASE COMMENT ON YOUR GIFTS.
• If your creator did not follow the rules (i.e. did not feature your requested pairing in your gift; included a DNW) please contact me at yennsor@gmail.com ASAP

Have fun! This is what exchanges are for. ❤️


(Credits to dreamingofsunshine exchange's expansive FAQ that largely inspired this one.)