@homestuckpolyswap / homestuckpolyswap.tumblr.com
BASIC RULES: Total anonymity throughout event, no assignment swapping or discussion in public spaces, Prospit is ALL AGES with a rating limit while Derse is 18+ with no rating limit, all assignments are given by email, no shipping wars or participant bullying allowed.
Hello, Polyswappers! We are happy to announce the official 2024 Polyswap schedule below.
[A handy graphic will be posted tomorrow along with a reminder of some general rules and sign-up suggestions.]
The full scope of the Polyswap event is about 77 days, but you will only have about 35 days to complete your gift assignment. Plan accordingly!
You all may have noticed that signups are still open. Per tradition, and our adoration of all things polyamory...we are extending signups!!! You will now have until Friday, April 26th to get your signup in. If you've been looking for a reason to join, here it is!
Hello, Polyswappers! We are happy to announce the official 2024 Polyswap schedule below.
[A handy graphic will be posted tomorrow along with a reminder of some general rules and sign-up suggestions.]
The full scope of the Polyswap event is about 77 days, but you will only have about 35 days to complete your gift assignment. Plan accordingly!
Life gets in the way of a good creation sometimes, and that's okay! Despite best laid plans, calendar reminders, or a very helpful roommate... Polyswap is ultimately for fun and that means it can take a backseat to more important things.
No shame there! At Polyswap HQ, the noodle-y ferrets masquerading as moderators completely understand all the fickle things. A sudden illness, overtime at work, or your cat walking across your tablet in just the right way to delete hours of progress.
This year, all gifts are due on JUNE 8th. Failing to get your gift submitted to AO3 before that deadline is an automatic default, or removal from the assignment. But wait! You were almost done, really! You only had a few more words, a couple more lines, that final note of the secret chord that David played!
By communicating with the moderation team promptly, using our Official Discord Server or the HSPOLYSHIPSWAP email, you can secure an extra day or two BEYOND JUNE 8th in order to complete your fill.
However, these are not automatic! They are granted on a case-by-case basis, depending on your level of progress and how rapidly you contact the moderators for help.
Asking for an extension on a gift that you haven't started yet is not fair to your giftee, who would be receiving a rushed creative project.
Waiting until midnight of Deadline Day is also unfair to moderators, who really should be sleeping at that hour. Sometimes, it is better to default and instead submit your gift to our supplementary treat collection.
Concerned that you might not be able to complete your fill on time regardless? Even with extensions? You can also contact the moderators to enforce a "secret" "new" deadline earlier than JUNE 8th! Then you'll be crunching through the project paralysis way before the numbers matter.
Sometimes we get really excited the beta reader who caught all the typos in our gloriously gifted fanwork. We might even be tempted to shout that beta reader out in the author's note on AO3, by name or by link, but whoa! Hang on!
Any information that could reveal your identity before gifter reveals on JUNE 22nd is a no-go. A massive part of the fun inherent to this event is hiding in plain sight, letting your giftee get excited, and having a great MASK OFF MOMENT when the time comes.
But it's only a beta, right? Well, any friend of yours is bound to lead back to you if your giftee is a sleuth... and most of them are! It's also why we don't allow wordcount bragging, WIP screenshots of artwork, or "I'm done!" messages in our official Discord Server.
Save that beta shoutout for AFTER the gifter reveals, and then laud all the praise you like! [Once anonymity is lifted, you can also edit your author's note however you please.]
If you do want to get really excited, brag about your beta reader, or enlist a hypesquad? Just request a private channel chat with our wonderful moderators on Discord! A participant link to the Official Polyswap Server will be sent out when sign-ups end.
Hello! I just completed my signup for Derse. How does one get an invite to the discord server?
Thank you for signing up! The Official Polyswap Discord Server will become available on or around May 4th, when assignments are sent out by email. This is our personal reminder to ensure your AO3 account is connected to a working email address, or you may miss out on your participant link. [And your giftee's prompts!]
You may be wondering why, and the short answer is: anonymity. It's much harder to manage the server if people who aren't participating in some capacity have joined up; even more difficult to keep potential sleuths from figuring out who their gifter is.
If you have any further questions, you can reach out here or email us at HSPOLYSHIPSWAP via GMAIL.
Here's a handy tip [and elaboration] on one of our RULES:
Well, what does this mean exactly?
In Polyswap, the moderators hand-match you to a giftee that has as many similarities to your offer as possible. We do this because AO3 is a wonderful, hard-working website with a complicated matching system! It has blind spots, thus is unable to account for anything beyond raw numbers.
Maybe you've offered to make something for all the characters they tagged, have a penchant for the same AUs, and really like to push yourself to make dynamic scenes with vibrant visuals.
A Dear Gifter Letter, or DGL from hereon, is a letter to your anonymous gifter outlining all the "please don'ts" that matter to you!
When signing up for a Polyswap event, you may want to include your squicks... but you just don't want to clutter your prompt up with things like NOTPs and headcanons you don't like. Some people are a bit more verbose than others, after all, and this is a way to circumvent AO3's "prompt box" character limit or just be a little more comprehensive on something you need to avoid.
While we encourage including the most important no-nos in your prompts, think of this like... an expansion or DLC! So, let's get into it.
Anything that makes you go "nnnyyeegh" or hinders your enjoyment of something. Think of it like an ICK [for the younger crowds], or getting the heebie-jeebies. There's nothing wrong with a squick, but it's just not for you... and that's okay. A DGL allows you to outline squicks or peeves you'd like your anonymous gifter to avoid. Some common squicks include:
Hello, Polyswappers! We are happy to announce the official 2024 Polyswap schedule below.
[A handy graphic will be posted tomorrow along with a reminder of some general rules and sign-up suggestions.]
The full scope of the Polyswap event is about 77 days, but you will only have about 35 days to complete your gift assignment. Plan accordingly!
Signing up for events on AO3 can be pretty complicated. Trust us, we know exactly how finicky the site can be about accepting your GLORIOUS PROMPTS and WONDROUS OFFER.
Therefore, we've constructed a really simple "getting started" guide that answers the most common sign-up woes. With pictures! Wowwww! Keep your eyes peeled for that, because it's coming. SOON.
In the short-term, here's a quick glossary!
Consider this a quick & dirty overview of what Polyswap is for all the newcomers... just in case you veterans wanted to include someone fresh but weren't sure how to pitch!
[By the way... A polyship is any configuration of characters totaling three... or more!]
Polyswap, or the Polyamorous Ship Swap, is a Homestuck-specific event localized to AO3. That means it is hosted on the website Archive Of Our Own dot ORG. This event focuses on "gifting" and "receiving" anonymous creations with polyships in mind.
Event participants can choose from two subcategories, the ALL-AGES Prospit with a rating cap of T, or the ALL-RATINGS Derse where everyone is 18+ and stuff can get freaky. When you join Derse or Prospit [or BOTH], you will write out three-to-six prompts for three-to-six different polyships you want to see more Stuff for. Then, you write up an offer which dictates the kind of things YOU want to make stuff about.
Your requests are then matched to someone who offered things similar to what you're seeking, while YOU are matched to someone else's requests to create wondrous fanworks all about their super awesome ship ideas. Everyone only HAS to fulfill one prompt... but you could fulfill more if your giftee has really good ideas.
All of this takes place under the cover of anonymity, very hush-hush. Then, at the very end, gifters are revealed and you're able to celebrate the folks who made your favorite new polyship fanworks! What a thrill!
There are some rules and expectations, because of course there are. It's an event, you see. We'll be posting a bit about that soon. Stay alert!
[And if you're new to AO3, we'll be posting a simple guide for signing up / participating soon as well.]
Hello, Polyswappers! We are happy to announce the official 2024 Polyswap schedule below.
[A handy graphic will be posted tomorrow along with a reminder of some general rules and sign-up suggestions.]
The full scope of the Polyswap event is about 77 days, but you will only have about 35 days to complete your gift assignment. Plan accordingly!
Keep your eyes peeled for official sign-up reminders and mark those calendars.
A reblog for the afternoon crowd, and those just waking up. Official sign-ups begin on April 7th, and will close on April 23rd. Tell all your swapping pals!
Our official server has been pruned up for the season. If you've been removed, fret not! Invites will be sent out via email after sign-ups conclude. Reminders to apply for pinch-hitting will be posted later.
Keep your eyes peeled for official sign-up reminders and mark those calendars.
A reblog for the afternoon crowd, and those just waking up. Official sign-ups begin on April 7th, and will close on April 23rd. Tell all your swapping pals!
Keep your eyes peeled for official sign-up reminders and mark those calendars.
Go check them out: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Homestuck_Polyswap_Derse_2023
