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Info

Launched in 2021, DA Poly Exchange is a fanfic and fanart exchange hosted on AO3 focusing on polyamorous, polysexual, and polygamous ships in the Dragon Age fandom which takes place annually in the Fall. For the exchange, participants sign up with their wants for a new fanart or fanfic gift and in exchange, offer to create a new piece for another fan. Although main gifts should be new fanart or fanfic that meet the above guidelines, treats are allowed to be sketches or drabbles or even works of a different variety (podfic, fanmixes, fanedits, etc). Treats can be given to multiple recipients or no recipients (gifted to the collection as a whole). The collection for the exchange remains open to receive treats based on requests or nominated ships!

The exchange focuses on healthy polyamory in all its forms and welcomes queer platonic relationships, one-time threesomes (or moresome), or long-term relationships. Check out FAQ - What do you mean by "healthy polyamory"? for more details on acceptable pieces.

Schedule​

info

The schedule displays in your local time!

  • Nominations Open: Sunday, August 27, 2023 4:00 PM
  • Nominations Close: Saturday, September 9, 2023 4:00 PM
  • Sign-Ups Open: Sunday, September 10, 2023 4:00 PM
  • Sign-Ups Close: Sunday, September 24, 2023 4:00 PM
  • Assignments Out: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 12:00 AM (or earlier!)
  • Works Due: Sunday, November 5, 2023 5:00 PM
  • Works Revealed: Thursday, November 16, 2023 1:00 AM
  • Creators Revealed: Thursday, November 23, 2023 1:00 AM

Rules​

The Basics​

  1. All works in the exchange must be part of the Dragon Age fandom. Crossover works are not allowed.
  2. All ratings and most kinks/fetishes are allowed so long as they do not violate your requester's DNWs and they are tagged appropriately. Because we're focused on healthy polyamory non-con works will not be allowed. Dubcon works should not violate a DNW in the request.
  3. The exchange allows dark fic, works which deal with substance abuse and other "problematic" themes, so long as the relationships depicted are healthy polyamory. Please be sure to list anything you do not want to receive in your requests as a DNW. When fulfilling requests, make sure to tag "problematic" content!
  4. The exchange does not accept works featuring minor-aged characters (under 18) in sexual situations. However, we will accept healthy non-sexual polyamory featuring characters aged 16+.
  5. Please do not alter skintone drastically from canon. In short, no white washing. If you have questions please reach out to moderators.
  6. Please do not change the sexual orientation of canonically homosexual characters (i.e. no pieces which depict Dorian with a female character or Sera with a male character) or make canonically trans characters cis. Other bisexual headcanons, trans/nb headcanons, and genderswap/sexswap works are okay.

The Works​

  1. By signing up you agree you will create one 1000 word fic or completed art piece (clean lineart) for your assigned giftee by the end of the exchange. There is no maximum word count.
  2. All works should adhere to basic readability standards.
  3. Stories and art should be created specifically for the exchange. However, they may be part of an ongoing series or collection you already have. (i.e. if someone requests Solas/m!Lavellan and you already have a series with these characters, you can make this a part of the same AU and add it to your own series/collection; please do not add works to personal series until after creator reveals). All fics should be able to stand on their own, though, so please don't create a piece which would require someone to have read your entire 150,000 word slowburn fic in order to follow it. Please do not add any collection or series which could identify you to your fic until after reveals.
  4. You may use your own OCs, default/generic OCs, or the requestor's OCs to fulfill requests with original characters. Anyone requesting specifically their own OCs should have information available in their letter or available on social media so the gifter can find out more!
A Note About OC Requests

Please note that although you can request your own OC be used for a gift, you should not use a request with an original character to box a creator into creating only for your own OC. You may state that you only want your own OC for some ships; however, your requests must then contain at least one ship consisting of only canon characters or of ships where you are open to OCs other than your own.

Requests for OC art should have more than one reference for the character's face and body. Written descriptions are not enough for an OC art request!

  1. Works should not consist primarily of AI generated content.
On AI Generated Content

Part of the fun (and the spirit) of fanworks exchanges is creating something for someone you know they will like - and hopefully, will love. We firmly believe using AI to generate the entirety of a gift goes against the creative gift-giving nature of exchanges.

However, we do recognize and understand that computer learning models (recently, commonly called AI) have been used under other names for years to assist with generating creative works. While most of us understand intuitively that there is a difference between using assistive technology such as filters on a graphics program or grammarly for writing and feeding ChatGPT a prompt, we thought we'd outline in a little more detail what would be okay for the exchange and what wouldn't.

Allowed AI Use

  • generating a prompt you then write
  • generating an outline for a fic you write
  • filters and effects applied to your own artwork
  • assisted editing of your own fic or art (changing lighting, angle, perspective, grammar, rephrasing sentences, etc)

Disallowed AI Uses

  • feeding an AI a prompt and asking it to generate the artwork or fic itself, even if you edit the fic or artwork further

In general, using computer learning model tools to assist with something you are creating on your own is fine! Using them as a short-cut to completely skip the creative process is not.

If you have any questions at all, please reach out to the mods!

note

The AO3 collection does not accept previously posted works, even after the exchange has ended when the collection is still open for treats.

Problems/Troubleshooting​

  • Questions about OCs, DNWs, or prompts can be directed to your recipient's tumblr ask box while on anon or through the moderators. Do not contact your recipient directly if they do not have anon asks on or you are otherwise unable to find your recipient's tumblr. Please contact the mods through DM on tumblr or Discord or via email, and we'll reach out to your recipient to get answers to your questions.
  • If you cannot complete your piece, contact a moderator ASAP for an extension or to default. Please see FAQ - I can't complete my assignment. What do I do?
  • If there is a conflict between participants which cannot be resolved or a problem with your assignments or gift, please let moderators know immediately.