Stars in the dark, be my muse

📜 Quick rules recap

You have signed up to create a gift for your assigned recipient.

Your gift must be either:

A complete fanfiction of at least 500 words, or

A finished piece of fanart with at least clean line art on unlined paper.

You only need to create one gift featuring one character or relationship requested by your recipient, even if you matched on multiple requests.

You may choose any requested character or relationship from your recipient's sign-up, even if it is not one of the characters or relationships you originally offered.

Requests, mediums, ratings, and DNWs

Please read your assignment carefully.

Your gift must:

Focus on a character or relationship requested by your recipient.

Be created in the requested medium (fanfiction or fanart).

Comply with the rating requested by your recipient: General Audiences (G) or Teen And Up Audiences (T) for SFW requests; Mature (M) or Explicit (E) for NSFW requests.

Not contain content listed in that request's Do Not Wants (DNWs).

Note: Different requests may have different mediums, ratings, and DNWs.

We know it's always possible to rules-lawyer a loophole in your recipient's DNWs, but remember that your goal is to create a gift your recipient will enjoy. If your recipient's DNWs don't match up exactly with your preferences, consider this an opportunity to stretch your creative muscles. 😊

Apart from character/relationship, medium, rating, and DNWs, everything else in the request is optional. Prompts, likes, and other details are suggestions rather than requirements — but consider them a helpful guide to creating an awesome gift your recipient will love!

Questions for your recipient?

If you need clarification while working on your assignment, e-mail your questions to:

[email protected]

We'll pass them on anonymously. This helps preserve the mystery during the anonymous period and lets your recipient keep guessing right up until reveals.

📤 Submitting your assignment

Once your gift for your recipient is complete, upload it to the exchange collection:

On the collection page, click "My Assignment" in the sidebar. This will take you to a page showing your recipient's requests.

In the upper-right corner, you'll see two buttons:

❌ Default

Choosing "Default" means you will drop your assignment.

If you believe you won't be able to complete your assignment before the deadline, please default as soon as possible. Early defaults give the mod team more time to find a replacement creator for your recipient.

Dropped assignments are called pinch hits and will be posted to this tumblr for volunteers to claim.

Remember: every participant who completes their assignment is guaranteed a gift. If a pinch hit remains unfilled, gift reveals will be delayed until a replacement gift is completed.

✅ Fulfill

Choosing "Fulfill" will lead you to a Post New Work page that is already set up with your recipient’s username and the WH40K Summer Fest collection.

From there, follow AO3's normal posting process. If necessary, see the AO3 tutorial for posting a work.

⚠️ Exchange-specific requirements

Ratings

Your work must use one of the following Archive Ratings:

General Audiences

Teen And Up Audiences

Mature

Explicit

Works marked "Not Rated" will not be approved.

Archive Warnings

Your work must use the appropriate Archive Warning:

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Major Character Death

Rape/Non-Con

Underage Sex

No Archive Warnings Apply

Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Important! Note the difference between the two non-specific Archive Warnings:

👉 No Archive Warnings Apply means the work contains none of the four major Archive Warnings. Other potentially sensitive content may still be present and should be tagged appropriately.

👉 Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings (CNTW) means the work may contain one or more Archive Warnings, but the author has chosen not to specify which ones. Only open CNTW works if you're comfortable with that uncertainty.

Characters and relationships

Tag the requested character(s) and/or relationship(s) that your gift focuses on. Minor or background characters and relationships should be placed in the Additional Tags.

Additional tags

Use Additional Tags for anything readers may want to know before opening the work, including kinks, potential squicks and triggers not covered by the Archive Warnings.

You can also list e.g., minor relationships ('Background Konor Guilliman/Tarasha Euten'), extra information about characters ('FtM Sigismund') or content ('Canon-Typical Violence'), genre ('Fluff', 'Angst', 'Omegaverse'), tropes ('Coming Out', 'Our Vampires Are Different'), etc.

Additional tags help people avoid content they are uncomfortable engaging with and find content they really, really want to engage with, so try to include tags that broadly cover the content and theme(s) of your fic.

Collection

Make sure the exchange/recipient is tagged/added under both 'Open Assignments' and 'Post to Collections/Challenges'. These should be auto-filled; if not, add them manually.

Leave 'Gift this work to' empty (this is for posting treats, which will be explained at a later date).

Once you click Post, your work will be submitted to the exchange and await moderator approval (which may take up to 48 hours, so please be patient).

🤔 "I submitted my assignment. Now what?"

Once your work has been approved by the mod team and added to the exchange collection, its status on the "Assignment" page on your personal dashboard will change to "Complete!"

You can then have a drink and relax by the pool until the gifts are revealed — or browse other requests if you feel inspired to give someone an extra treat!

😱 "Help! I posted my gift, but it disappeared!"

While the collection remains anonymous, your exchange works won't appear under the 'Works' tab in your dashboard sidebar menu.

To find an exchange gift:

Go to Assignments in your dashboard.

To find treats you've posted:

Go to Works → Works in Collections.

💝 Have fun creating!

Please follow or regularly check this Tumblr for announcements and updates throughout the writing period.

Any pinch hits that need volunteers will also be posted here.

Questions for the mod team or for your recipient? Email us at:

[email protected]

If you do not have an AO3 account, you can request an invitation to join the Archive here.

Note: In case the mod team needs to reach out to you, AO3 shows us the e-mail address you use to log in. If you end up unmatchable or if your creator sends us a question to forward to you, we will use this e-mail address. Be sure to be able to access it, check it regularly while the exchange is running – and, if your legal name is in it, change it if you don’t want the mod team to see it! All e-mails from the mod team will be sent from [email protected] using the name Roboute Guilliman (he handles our paperwork) or through AO3.

How to sign up

Click on 'Sign Up'/'Sign-up Form' on the exchange's profile page (or click here) to fill out your requests and offers.

You must submit at least 3 requests for characters and/or relationships that you would like to receive fanfiction and/or fanart for.

Fill out Request 1, 2 and 3 with 1-20 characters or relationships from the exchange tag set. You can add extra request boxes, up to 10.

Choose whether you'd like to receive only fanfiction, only fanart, or both, and whether it should be Safe For Work (SFW), Not Safe For Work (NSFW), or both. You can choose different media and ratings for each request. SFW works are rated for General Audiences (G) or Teen And Up Audiences (T). NSFW works are rated Mature (M) or Explicit (E).

Linking to a 'dear creator' letter on an external website, i.e., a tumblr blog post, Google Doc, Dreamwidth page, etc. with further details about your preferences, is optional but welcome. Note: The person assigned to you is not obligated to read your letter, but may find it helpful for inspiration. Please make sure your page is publicly available; some tumblr links can only be accessed by tumblr users and not all participants are on tumblr.

You MUST include a Do Not Want (DNW) list of anything you don't want in a gift, such as squicks and triggers. The mods will check your gift to make sure it doesn't contain any of your DNWs, but we only check for those listed in this text box. Your listed DNWs should, as a minimum, state whether you wish to avoid any of the four specific AO3 Archive Warnings: 1) Graphic depictions of violence, 2) Major Character Death, 3) Rape/Non-con, 4) Underage Sex. You can have different DNWs for different requests.

In addition to your DNWs, you can use the text box for suggestions, optional prompts, and preferences. Note: Non-DNW details are optional, so your creator is not required to stick to your suggestions. But having a general idea of whether you like fluff/action/comedy/smut, the Great Crusade/Horus Heresy/M40/M42-era, your favourite tropes, art styles, etc. is very helpful to your creator.

If you are unsure about what to include in your DNWs or optional details, you can check out other participants' requests for ideas.

You must submit at least 3 offers for characters and/or relationships that you would like to create fanfiction and/or fanart about.

Your offered characters/relationships do not have to be the same as your requests.

Add 1-20 characters or relationships from the exchange tag set for each offer. You have to fill out Offer 1, 2 and 3 with at least one character/relationship in each, but it doesn't matter how you group your offers otherwise. No one will see your offers except you and the mods. You will only be matched with one other participant and required to create one gift regardless of how many offers you submit.

Choose whether you would like to create only fanfiction, only fanart, or both, and whether your work will be SFW or NSFW. You will only be required to make one gift for your assignment regardless of how many media and ratings you offer.

Please return to check before the sign-up deadline that your offers match at least one request by another participant in the exchange.

If your offers don't match anyone else's requests by the time of the deadline, the mods will e-mail you to ask if you would like to add additional offers. If you do not respond to this e-mail within 24 hours or decline to add additional offers, your sign-up will be deleted.

Once you have filled out at least 3 requests and offers, hit 'Submit' at the bottom of the page. You have now signed up to participate in the exchange and your requests will be visible to other participants in the Request Summary.

You can edit/add to your requests and offers by clicking 'My Sign-up' on the exchange profile page. Note: After the sign-up deadline, only the mods will be able to edit your sign-up details.

"What if there is someone participating that I don't want to be matched with?"

The best way to ensure a fun and enjoyable exchange experience is to keep an eye on the Request Summary and adjust your offers based on other participants' requests.

Maybe you'll see something that inspires you to offer characters or relationships you didn't consider before — or maybe someone requests something for one of your offers that you would rather not create, in which case it's perfectly fine to edit your offers so you won't match on that particular character/relationship.

If there is another participant that you very strongly do not want to be matched with, please e-mail us at [email protected] before the sign-up deadline and let us know:

Your AO3 username

The AO3 username of the participant you do not want to be matched with

Whether your Do Not Match request is for creating, receiving, or both

What is the tag set for?

Put shortly, the tag set is our shared wishlist for characters and relationships we'd like to include in this exchange.

Like most exchanges on AO3, the WH40K Summer Fest begins with a two-step setup period:

During the nomination period (May 15–May 31), anyone can submit characters and relationships to the tag set created for the exchange.

During the sign-up period (June 1–June 14), participants submit requests and offers for characters/relationships from the tag set they would like to create or receive fanfic/fanart for. At the end of the sign-up period, the exchange mods will match participants based on their requests and offers.

You can only sign up to request or offer the characters and relationships contained in the tag set, so make sure to submit your nominations before Sunday May 31, 3:59pm GMT | 5:59pm CEST | 11:59am EDT | 8:59am PDT (countdown). After this time, the tag set will close and additional nominations cannot be added.

How to nominate

You'll need an AO3 account to participate in this exchange. If you do not have an account, you can request an invitation to join the Archive here – the wait time is currently around 8 days.

Find the link to the tag set in the info box at the top of the exchange's profile page (or click here).

On the tag set page, click 'nominate' in the top right corner.

Choose 'Warhammer 40.000' for the fandom.

All nominations go in the 'Warhammer 40.000' fandom category, even if they belong to other media, e.g., the Horus Heresy series, the Rogue Trader computer game, etc. Nominations are only used for matching participants; when you upload your gift to AO3, you can use the fandom tag(s) of your choice.

Both characters and relationships go in the 'relationship' box for matching purposes.

Add characters to the tagset by writing: Character: Name and finishing with a comma.

Add pairings by writing Name/Name (for romantic or sexual pairings) or Name & Name (for platonic pairings/friendships/enemyships – any specific characters you want interacting in a non-romantic/non-sexual way). If the tag has been used on AO3 before, you can choose it from the dropdown menu, otherwise finish with a comma.

You can nominate Original Characters as characters or in relationships. HOWEVER, note that it will be the creator's choice which OC to use; e.g., if you request "Saint Celestine/Original Female Character," the creator can use an OC you suggest in your sign-up but can also use their own idea. You may nominate original characters that specify an OC's faction ("Original Ultramarine & Original Tau Fire Warrior") and/or gender ("Original Transfem Sister of Battle/Original Nonbinary Imperial Guard").

You can also nominate 'Any' characters, e.g., "Sanguinius & Any Blood Angel(s)", "Ciaphas Cain/Any Canon Female Character", to give the creator freedom to choose which character(s) to include.

You can nominate up to 20 characters or pairings.

Once you are done, click 'submit' at the bottom of the page.

You can add more characters and pairings, up to 20, by clicking 'My nominations' on the tag set page, but once your nominations have been approved by the mods they can't be deleted.

If you nominate something that has already been nominated by someone else, or if the mods change the wording/order of names to match archive conventions (e.g., "Ulfar of the Space Wolves" ➡ "Ulfar Redmane"), it may continue to appear on your 'My nominations' page as unapproved. Click 'Expand All' on the tag set page to see a full list of all nominated characters/relationships and check if your nominations are included, possibly under a slightly different name.

It may take up to 24+ hours for nominations to be approved, so please don't delete your unapproved nominations.

If you have any questions about your nominations, contact the mods at [email protected] or here on tumblr.