Worlds Unlike My Own

To sign up, first go to the AO3 collection.

You will need to make at least three prompts. These are inspiration for fanworks you would like to receive, and they're made using the relationship tags and additional tags that are in the tag set. You can make up to fifteen prompts, and you have until June 14th at 8:59 P.M. CDT to sign up for the exchange.

(After your initial signup, you are free to continue submitting prompts to the collection until July 20th at 8:59 P.M. CDT. You still need to have a complete signup, including three prompts and a Google form submission, by July 14, though.)

Now, I'm going to make my first prompt. I'd like to see some kind of cute, cozy Sophie and Fitz modern AU.

First, I'm going to select the types of fanwork I want to receive. For this prompt, I'm interested in receiving either art or fic, so I'll select those two. (Yes, these are sorted under characters; it's one of the quirks of running an AO3 exchange!)

This means my gifter could choose either of those mediums, not that they'll do both.

Next, I pick the relationships I'm interested in. I said I wanted Sophie and Fitz, so I'm going to pick every version of them I'm okay with that's in the tag set. For me, I'm fine with romantic, platonic, or queerplatonic, so I'll include all three.

Again, this means my gifter will choose which of the three they want to do, not that they'll do all of them. My relationships section looks like this:

Now, this next part is optional, but highly recommended because it helps give your gifter inspiration and a better idea of what you're interested in.

Under additional tags, I'll add what AUs, themes, or ideas I'd be interested in seeing. Since I want something cute, cozy, and modern, I think I'll use these tags:

You can add up to 20 per prompt. Your gifter doesn't have to use these, but they'll help guide them to giving you a gift you'll like.

Next, warnings. These are the AO3 archive warnings you are okay with being included. This doesn’t mean they have to or will be included. But you are opting in to the potential for them to be.

For my cozy Sophitz prompt, I don't want any warnings, so I'll only opt into "No Archive Warnings Apply"

And, the most exciting part, the free-write part of the prompt! This is where you can write any more specific ideas or inspiration you had, and where you can include your likes and DNW ("Do Not Want") list. Your DNW list includes things you do not want to receive, and your gifter is required to follow it, enforced by mods. It is highly recommended to include one.

You do not need to DNW things not allowed in the exchange. This includes noncon, incest, bestiality, romantic relationships between characters who are canonically adults (over 18) and characters who are canonically minors (under 18), and NSFW.

This is what my prompt looks like:

The goal here is to give guidance on things you'd enjoy while still giving your gifter enough freedom to create something they enjoy! If you chose art as a potential medium, don't forget to include inspiration for artists as well.

Finally, you'll see this checkbox. Leave it unchecked. We don't want prompts to be anonymous. This way, people can control who they're gifting to so we don't all accidentally choose the same two people.

Perfect! That's my first request done.

I'm going to do the same for my second prompt. This time I want a dramatic, intense Time Loop AU with Tam as the focus. I'd prefer a fic or a poem, and there are a few relationships I'd be okay with as the focus.

Notice I have multiple versions of Sophie and Tam, but only one of Tam and Fitz. That's because that was the only version of the relationship nominated. If I want Tam & Fitz, or Tam ~ Fitz, I'm going to have to nominate those myself. Tag nominations, which you can find instructions for here, will remain open until June 10th at 8:59 P.M. EDT. That's just a few more days, not the whole signup period, so plan ahead!

Okay, back to the prompt. Since this is a more intense idea, I'm okay with any archive warning. This means I might get a fanwork with graphic violence or major character death—it's not a guarantee. I've also given some potential ideas, and I've left that last checkmark blank.

Now for my last required prompt! I'm going to be a little risky with this one. Additional tags are not required, so I'm not going to put any. All I want is something with Marella Redek/Linh Song.

This means that my gifter, if they choose this prompt, can make whatever they want—I've opted into any medium and any archive warning—so long as it doesn't break my DNW. This is riskier because, without guidance, I might not like the tags they choose to use. It's a good idea with any request to look through the tag set and DNW any tags you don't want, but especially if you're going to make a prompt like this. You can see that I've done that here.

And with that, I'm done making prompts, so I'll hit submit at the bottom! Again, three prompts is the minimum, but you can make up to fifteen (just use the "Add another request?" button in the bottom right), and those can be submitted until July 20th (CDT).

You're not quite done signing up, though! Please now hop over to this Google Form and fill it out. We just need your AO3 and Discord usernames, then links to wherever you typically post fanwork. Here's an example form filled out by Catherine:

This information (minus the "comments for the mods" question, not pictured) will be shared with the other participants to help enable the guessing part of the game. Thanks for participating, and we're so excited to see what you make!

Bonus: Prompting Recursive Works

This is not required. You can make a complete sign-up with the above information. This is for those interested in a specific kind of prompt: a recursive prompt.

A recursive work is a fanwork inspired by another fanwork (e.g. fanart based on a fic, a fic inspired by another fic, a podfic). You are allowed to request recursive work with a few caveats.

Recursive prompts cannot count towards your minimum three required. And they must be prompts for your work (i.e. requesting something based on a fanwork you made, not someone else).

(Though, note: Podficcers can fill prompts by podficcing any work on the platform that has a permission statement. Otherwise, the requests they would be able to fill would be really limited!)

To make a recursive request, I'm going to first, like normal, select which mediums I'd be okay with receiving.

Then, in the relationships section, I'm going to put in the associated recursive tags for the mediums I chose. I chose all four, so I'm going to use all four. They are: Art Based on My Work, Fic Based on My Work, Podfic Based on My Work, and Poem Based on My Work.

Then, in the additional tags section, I'll put any additional tags for what I'd like the new work to have—not what is already in the work we're recursing. There may, however, be overlap.

I'll also mark the archive warnings I'm okay with—again, this is for the new work, not what the already existing work has.

Now, the prompt description. This is the most important part here, because this is where you list what work you're interested in having recursed, alongside your ideas for the new work.

These are similar to normal prompts, just slightly to the left! They're harder to fill because they require the gifter to have read/seen an additional source (your fanwork), so we recommend limiting your recursive prompts to 2-3 at most.