#recursive 2026

How does a fandom gift exchange work?

People fill out a signup where they offer prompts for gifts they would like to receive, then also offer types of gifts they are willing to make, and then they're matched on Ao3 so everyone gets an assignment to make a gift for another person. All these gifts go into a big collection, and they're revealed when everyone participating has a gift.

How will this event work?

This is a Derivative Works recursive exchange. People nominate fics or art that either have a blanket permission statement (fun database here), or a comment from the author saying that works inspired by their work is okay. Then each work is entered into the official tag set as its own thing you can request. People sign up as they would for a normal exchange, with up to ten of these fic fandoms as being something you are either offering to write for or requesting for your own gift. Once matched, you then write a side story, prequel, sequel, AU, or something else within the universe of that fic. 

For example, I had the idea that I really want to see a side story about Joe and Cleo in This Is About A Stuffed Bird, by Bee_4. I will sign up and request that fic as one of my fandoms (and others, you need a minimum of three fandoms), and meanwhile I’m offering to write people’s requests for This Is About A Stuffed Bird by Bee_4, the trinkets and the treasures we brought back from the crusades by Odaigahara, The Extradition by Onelituli, or The Dollhouse by MawoftheMagnetar.

I will be matched during matching week, we'll have our creation period like is usual for an exchange, and when I post my gift I will be using both the "gift to" function (to my recipient) and the "inspired by" function (to whoever's fic I'm writing something inspired by). Once posted, there will be an anonymous period of the exchange where I get a mystery gift and my gifter gets a gift that is on anon as well, and then all will be revealed a week later.

The author I want to make fic for isn't on the database, what do I do?

In that case, you would check to see if the author has a listed permission statement that isn't in the database (this is normally under the "bio" section of an author's profile on Ao3). If they do not have one, check if they have a listed way to contact them, or comment (politely) on the fic that you're interested in, asking permission to enter the work in an exchange making works inspired by mcyt art (see template below).

To be accepted as a source material for this exchange, you would need either a blanket permission statement that is unlimited—"feel free to make any fic you want"—or limited in a way that is simple for the mod team to check on. "No NSFW fic" is simple to check, "No bad dad Phil" is not. You may ask this only in a polite way, and do not show up asking them in four different venues. We do not want this to turn into harassment of authors.

If there are multiple authors for a work, you need a permission statement from each one.

Orphaned works, or deleted-with-permission-to-repost works will be considered to have given permission for recursive work, as the author has given up the fic. Anonymous fics still require author permission, as the author retains creative control of the work.

What do I say to ask permission?

This is just an example, but feel free to say something along the lines of: "Hey, I really like your [fic/art]! I’m going to be participating in an exchange where people make fic and art inspired by MCYT works, and I was wondering if you are okay with people making fic/art/web weaves/other fanworks based on your [fic/art]?"

How many fandoms/fics do I need to sign up?

To increase matching possibilities, we will be using Yuletide rules for sign up, as they are the prototypical small fandom exchange. You must request a minimum of three unique source materials, and you must offer a minimum of four unique source materials. "Source Materials" here refers to fics, art, or web weaves. Your source materials do not need to come from different originating servers.

You must make sure that you request at least two source materials that are not created by you, and offer at least three source materials that are not created by you.

What happens if I don't match to anyone?

If there is no one who you can create for, you will be offered the opportunity to add more source materials to your sign-up. If you do not wish to add any more fics or art to your signup, you will not be able to participate in the exchange, and your signup will be deleted. It's a good idea to keep an eye on the sign-ups during the sign-up period, to make sure that you're matchable to someone's requests!

If there is no one who can create for you, you will go up as an Initial Pinch Hit, and somone will volunteer to make a fic or art for you.

What if no one knows about the source material (art/fic) that I want to nominate?

There will be a promo channel in the discord! You can make your pitch for why your source material is the best and everyone should love it there.

I can’t finish my gift in time, now what?

No worries, life happens. The important thing is that you notify the mods as soon as possible, so that a Pinch Hitter can be assigned. A Pinch Hitter is an artist or writer who steps in to save the day and make a new gift on an accelerated timeline. 

I want to be a pinch hitter!

First of all, thank you. I hope you're ready to speed-read some fic, and then create like the wind. There will be a role in the discord that you can assign, and then you'll be pinged with a pinch hit request when they go out!

What if no one signs up to make a gift for me when I go up as a Pinch Hit?

The exchange will not open until everyone has a gift. If Pinch Hits are not picked up until the deadline, the work reveals will be delayed until someone is able to pick up the PInch Hit. This will continue for as long as necessary until everyone has a gift.

Is shipping allowed?

Yes. Because there is no broad fandom-wide consensus about how Creator boundaries are to be enforced in specific cases (whether it's okay to write beeduo as /r or /p is an obvious one, or whether it’s permitted to ship Joel Smallishbeans) or between specific fandoms (Lifesteal approach to shipping and boundaries is different from HBG is different from DSMP), the mods will not be policing any specific understanding of boundaries across the event. The event will operate on Don't Like Don't Read, in that everyone will have the chance to opt in for themselves as to if they want certain relationships to be written as platonic or romantic, and NSFW will have to be specifically opted into. Delivering un-asked for shipping or NSFW is grounds for a ban from the event. 

Is NSFW allowed? 

Yes. NSFW works are allowed, but must be specifically opted into. You are only allowed to opt into NSFW within the 18-plus collection. No one under 18 is permitted to join the 18-plus collection and attempts to do so will be grounds for a ban from this event and anywhere else the mod team touches. For the comfort of the greatest number of participants, anything with the tags Underage Sex or Adult/Minor will not be permitted to be part of the event. 

How are Minors defined for the purposes of those warnings?

We are using the age within the work— so if the fic itself would require the tags. This applies both to works nominated as source materials and as works given as gifts. There are many well-known fics that either age up or age down their characters, and people will be operating within those canons. It does not make sense to make a list of characters who are minors (or by extension, who are not), when the source materials people are pulling from can have set the characters ages anywhere from infant to immortal, regardless of what the original streams were. As such, we will be asking people to make sure that any ship or nsfw work they create has all necessary characters being of-age in the text, even if the source material has them as younger. In cases of ambiguity the mods will be interpreting with an attempt at good faith, but note that clear attempt to circumvent the content rules will fall under the "do not be an asshole" provision and could also result in a ban.

Is RPF allowed?

This is intended to be a character-focused exchange, but a lot of older works in this fandom are still tagged as Video Blogging RPF, Minecraft, or are wrangled into VB RPF. Because of this, and because with some duos or groups the line between RPF and RP is fuzzy anyways, the mod team will not be legislating what counts as MCYT for the purposes of this exchange. We will be taking your word for it. 

Is Dark/Violent content allowed?

Yes. For many of us, the source material that originally drew us to the fandom includes major character death, torture, murder-for-hire, death games, public executions and more. The fanfiction that arose from the source material follows in that trend. We will allow dark content to be part of the event. 

We also ask that participants use best judgement in delivering commonly triggering topics un-asked for. If a triggering topic is a canonical element in a work, we will assume that to be a tacit opt-in. We reserve the right to ban people at mod's discretion for delivering unrequested triggering content, under the "do not be an asshole" rule.

What sort of triggering topics should be avoided?

We do not want to put down a list because any list would naturally be non-exhaustives, so we are primarily asking people to use their best judgement. If a trope involves extreme physical violence, violation of consent, dehumanization, extreme terror or fear, body horror, or death, then it should probably not be included unless specifically asked for or checked with your recipient via the mods.

Note that if a triggering topic is a canonical element in a work— for example suicide, child death, or addiction— we will assume that to be a tacit opt-in unless the person specifies differently.

Are major archive warnings (noncon/underage/graphic depictions of violence/MCD) allowed?

Aside from the content rules governing NSFW (no underage or adult/minor, to adhere with tumblr and dicord's TOS), major archive warnings are allowed. Depictions of real life horrors such as genocide and slavery are not-uncommon motifs in MCYT fics, and the mod team is not interested in legislating which types of horrors, griefs or abuses are inherently worse than others and are therefore off-limits. Because holding writing to a quality standard or saying only survivors can write atrocities is unworkable from a moderation standpoint, the three mentioned major archive warnings (MCD, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Noncon), are permitted to be included.

However, Major Archive Warnings must be explicitly opted into on Ao3. For the comfort of the greatest number of participants, participants in the all-ages collection will not be able to opt into noncon. Delivering un-asked for major archive warnings is grounds for a ban from this event. The mod team reserves the right to warn other mod teams on both the MCYT and Multi-fandom side about your bad behaviour.

Is AI content permitted?

No. Specifically, what is colloquially referred to as “AI” content— large language models such as Chat GPT or Midjourney that have been trained on Common Crawl’s unsourced art and writing— is not permitted. Machine-assisted writing or art helpers such as spell check or Grammarly are allowed. If you feel like your work is being written for you, please do not use the software. 

What is a DNW?

All participants will have the opportunity to fill out a DNW, which stands for Do Not Want. This is anything that has the potential to ruin a gift for you, and is where you opt out of content that would trigger, squick, or just displease you. DNWs must be phrased politely, (so no "No foster aus because they suck and you suck if you like them"), and they must be reasonable, (so no attempting to box someone into a specific gift, i.e. "DNW anything that isn't a space au where Tommy is a dinosaur-hybrid and Tubbo is a ghost bee and they rampage through the living ship named Las Nevadas"), and they must be specific and clear, (so no “no triggering content"), but they can be as petty (disliking specific art styles) or as broad-reaching (no modern aus, no specific ships, no crossovers with specific servers or fics) as you like. Deliberately breaking someone's DNW is grounds for a ban from the exchange. 

How do I sign up/nominate?

We made specific posts for this, as it's a bit complicated! You can check them out here.

How many source materials can I nominate?

You can nominate a maximum of 10 source materials!

My recipient requested 10 things, but I've only read four of them. How many gifts do I have to make?

You only have to make ONE gift, no matter how many things you matched on. Match on ten source materials— you make one gift. Match on one source material— you make one gift.

Can I do the exchange anonymously?

While your offers remain private, and you can always give a gift on anon, your requests will be public, and you will receive a gift publically. We would recommend that you not request anything that you do not want publically associated with your account, or use a sock account if you're concerned. Moreover, you must publicly join the discord, so this is not the exchange to participate in if you want to be 100% anonymous.

Can I make more than one gift?

If you wish to sign up twice, you will need two Ao3 accounts, and you will need to change your discord name to indicate that both accounts are yours, so we know we have you in the discord. You'll also need to inform the mods that you are using a sock account, so we can make sure that we do not match you to yourself.