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[thehyruleexchange]

Crunch time!

There are only twelve (12) days left till assignments are due. How is everyone doing?

Feel free to reach out if you need any help or a beta reader.

[thehyruleexchange]

Assignments are sent!

Assignments are sent! I did my best with matching the variety of requests and offers.  I hope your prompts inspire you.

If you feel as though you can not fulfill any of the prompts let me know as soon as possible so I can see about switching you with someone.

Also if you miss out on sign-ups but still want to participate in the exchange you can shoot me a message about becoming a Pinch Hitter or Beta Reader.

[thehyruleexchange]

Just a few hours before sign-ups close!

Alright Sign-Ups are Open!

[thehyruleexchange]

One week left to sign-up for the Hyrule exchange!

For fanfiction there is a 1k minimum on word count. FanArt minimum is 500x500 with clean lines but can be debated due to type on a case-by-case basis.

Alright Sign-Ups are Open!

[thehyruleexchange]

Part two of Sign-up Help; Offers

While this is a single fandom exchange there are multiple games and canons within it.  That being the case this exchange allows you to leave multiple offers.  So, where to begin.  At the bottom of the Sign-up form you will find a section for offers, the first box to fill out is the Title box.

Again this is not a required field but if you have a special note or concern for the mod this is a good spot to put it.  Maybe a good friend of your’s is also in the exchange and you plan on them being your beta reader and you don’t want to be matched to them.  Maybe you’re up for being a Pinch hitter and want to say so.  Or you can use this as a summery for your offer. “YourName, BotW, SFW only, Artist”

Next line is the Fandom line

Just like in Requests this is a required line.  If you’re down for any continuity within the fandom put Legend of Zelda & related fandoms.  Be aware this includes fan work such as the Linkedin Universe.  Only want to write/draw for official LoZ properties?  Only know one or two of the games?  Then select the canons you want.  Because you can leave multiple offers you do not have to list all of them in one spot.

Character line

Now that you’ve picked your Fandom, you can pick the characters you want to write/draw from within it.  This is really helpful to the mod with matching.

Relationships

Who are you comfortable writing/drawing with who?  Would you prefer Gen and only friendships?  Daruk & Link & Mipha & Revali & Urbosa & Zelda are friends.  Daruk/Link/Mipha/Revali/Urbosa/Zelda are lovers.  Don’t worry about specifying SFW and NSFW just yet, that comes latter.

If you check off the Any Relationship box that means you are open to writing/drawing ANYTHING.

Prompt URL - Honestly not that important here but if there is something you want to link to go for it.  Remember your offers will only be seen by the Mod.  

Finally the Description box

This is where you get into the nitty gritty of what you ARE and ARE NOT willing to write/draw.  Such as: What medium are you offering: Fic, art, comic. Are you comfortable offering NSFW? What games, canons are you offering? Preferred genres or story types. Character or Pairing preference. Gen, M/F, F/F, M/M, Poly, other, or all of the above? Anything you don’t want to offer?

Here are some examples;

Example #1

Example #2

Example #3

Okay hope this helps.

Just checked in on how offers were doing on the exchange.  The fact that most of you did the bullet point version using;

What medium are you offering: Fic, art, comic. Are you comfortable offering NSFW? What games, canons are you offering? Preferred genres or story types. Character or Pairing preference. Gen, M/F, F/F, M/M, Poly, other, or all of the above? Anything you don’t want to offer?

Made me so happy!  That really is the easiest on your mod, Thank you so much!

[thehyruleexchange]

Prompt Help!

Okay so there have been some questions and confusion on how to fill out the prompt form so in this post I’m going to try to clear some of that up.

I will be doing this tutorial from a writers point of view but know that it also applies to artists.

All right from the top!  First you will want to go to the Sign-up Form tab on the side menu, there you will be able to fill out 4 to 6 requests.  Filling out 4 request does not mean you then have to write 4 different stories.  The number of requests you put in simply helps match you to someone who is willing to write at least one of your prompts.

Next you will see

This is not a required field!  What it does is give a quick summery of the prompt. (Keep reading there will be big examples latter.)

The next line is required, this is the Fandom line.

This is where you put what fandom/cannon you are interested in.  Maybe you don’t really care what game continuity someone uses go a head and put in Legend of Zelda & related fandoms.  Maybe you only want stuff from Ocarina of Time, put that.  Maybe you want a cross over,  Wind Waker and Pirates of the Caribbean, that’s what you enter.

After that is the Character line.  

This in not required, maybe all you want is world building that isn’t character focused.  That’s okay.  But for those of you who want character driven stories this is important.  List out the main characters you want in your story.  You can also put in what side characters you would like to see but if you do so I recommend making it clear in the Description box who are the main characters and who are the side.  If you want more characters then the ten allowed put that in Description box as well.  The names you put in the Tags are the ones the mod will be looking at to match you.

Next up Relationships.

This is for Friendships and Romance.  It’s a good way to fit more characters into the Tags, for example Daruk & Link & Mipha & Revali & Urbosa & Zelda, means you want the BotW Champions as friends.  To clarify if you put Daruk/Link/Mipha/Revali/Urbosa/Zelda, you want them all in a poly romance.

Then comes the Prompt URL line.

Link to a picture, a drabble, a letter, whatever you think might inspire your gifter.  For reference here is my letter.

https://zscalatian.tumblr.com/post/647678285812219904/hyrule-exchange-letter

DO NOT FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO COPY IT.   My style of prompt letter comes from participating in mega multi-fandom exchanges where the minimum word count is often between 3-10K and you aren’t guaranteed to have your gifter know the requested fandom very well.  I pack in a lot of optional use information and that is what this is, OPTIONAL.  Your gifter does not need to follow anything that the link leads to, it is completely at their discretion.

Okay before we get to the Description box there is one more Tag list on here.  The Optional Tags.

Again this helps the Mod with matching.  You don’t have to use it and in some cases just won’t be able to.  If you want your story to be fluffy or angsty or an AU you can put that in this spot.

Finally on to the BIG part of this, the Description box.

Okay, so here is where you put your idea and there are a lot of way of doing this.  Instead of typing this all out I’m going to show you a few mock sign-ups I’ve done.  The few example I provide are by no means the only way of filling this out.  Here we go.

Example #1

Example #2

Example #3

You will notice these are all Robin Hood prompts but they each go about it differently.

Well I hope this helps and that you all have an easier time with sign-ups.  It’s late, I’m tired, I’m off to bed.  Latter.

[thehyruleexchange]

Updated link!

[thehyruleexchange]

The first Sign-Ups are in!  Ten days left!

Alright Sign-Ups are Open!

[thehyruleexchange]

Alright Sign-Ups are Open!

[thehyruleexchange]

A place for all of us to hang out and chat.  If you have comments, questions, or suggestions let me know!

[thehyruleexchange]

FAQ

For The Hyrule Exchange on AO3

What is a Gift Exchange? It’s when a group of creative fans get together to do a Secret-Santa style gift exchange.  Each participant who signs up is offering to write a story, draw a piece of fan art, or create a comic based off a list of prompts they have been given.  In return they will receive a story, piece of art or comic based off a list of prompts they provided.

What sort of things are allowed? Any fan work for The Legend of Zelda & its related fandoms as long as it matches the tags your recipient requested!  This means that if your recipient requested Link & Zelda, fanfic, and Skyward Sword Canon Universe, you have to write them a fanfic involving Link and Zelda as friends or partners within the Skyward Sword Canon Universe, without involving anything on their DNW (Do Not Want) list.  However, any other details they write in the Details box are a guideline, not a requirement.

What about crossovers/fan work of a fan work? You are given five prompts to fill out, if you want a crossover or fan work of a fan work, that’s fine as long as the crossover or fan work includes the Legend of Zelda & its related properties.  Linkedin Universe?  Fine.  Legend of Zelda/Zorro?  Go for it.  Smash Bros?  As long as you request a Zelda character.

I would recommend that not all five of your prompts be for crossovers or fan work of a fan work, as that will make it harder to find you a match.

What am I expected to do? By signing up you are agreeing to write a 1k or more fan fiction, create a 500x500 or larger piece of fan art with clean lines, or to create a three panel or larger comic for the Legend of Zelda based off a list of prompts you will receive.

Fan Art and Comic can be debated on a case by case basis if so desired.

How do tags work? On AO3, tags involving an & are for nonromantic/nonsexual relationships, and tags involving an / are for romantic/sexual relationships.  Mipha&Sidon is for Mipha and Sidon as siblings or friends; Mipha/Sidon is incest.

There are no restrictions on what ships you are allowed to request or offer, so long as your prompt involves at least one Legend of Zelda character.  Please do not be a jerk about people liking things you don’t like.

Please also say if you are a minor so that people know not to give you anything NSFW.

When do assignments go out, and when are they due? Prompts will be sent out on the 21st of April and due on the 12th of June.

What do I do if there’s stuff I particularly want or don’t want to make? When putting in your offers, please included any special requests.  Such as: What medium you are offering; Fic, Art, Comic, all of the above. Are you comfortable offering NSFW? What games, canons are you offering? Preferred genres or story type. Character or Paring preference. Gen, M/F, F/F, M/M, Poly, other, or all of the above? Anything you don’t want to offer?

What do I do if there’s stuff I don’t want to receive?

Put it in your DNW (Do Not Want) at the bottom of your prompt. Whatever you put there I can enforce and make sure is not in your gift. If you have a link to a letter and have extra DNWs over there I can not enforce them.

Also if you are only interested in getting one type of medium, say you only want to receive fanfic, put that in your request/prompt.

Remember give detail without being restrictive. Here are some bad examples; Link, Time Travel. - Nice, but you're going to give your gifter heart palpitations because there’s not enough detail to give them inspiration or to show what you like.

Twilight Princess comic Link time travels into Twilight Princess game canon, just in time to save Ordon Village from the bokoblin raid by using dark shadow powers he picked up from Midna while wearing a blue and green butterfly crown he got from Agitha. After cutting off the boss bokoblin’s head by using the secret technique helm splitter, the whole village celebrates by roasting up pumpkins and the bokoblin’s boar. Link gets drunk on goat butterbeer and teaches everyone a dance he learned in Castle Town, also he tells the younger Link not to lead Ilia on as he’s going to meet someone way hotter later and should probably try hooking her up with the Zora prince instead. - Fun, but you’ve added in a lot of details your gifter may or may not want to write. Also, you seem to have a clear picture of this, are you sure don’t want to write it yourself?

What is a letter? You may notice the option to link to a letter.  You can use Google docs, Tumblr, Dreamwidth, Pillowfort, or any other hosting site to write a more in-depth request to go along with your prompts.  This is a good place to add, for example, little things you enjoy about characters, setting details you’re keen to see, fic genres or tropes you enjoy, any kinks you might have.  It gives your gifter more to work with and a better feel for what you like, but they are not required to add anything from your letter.  (It can also, for this exchange, help your mod with the matching process.)

I’m really busy.  How do I drop out? On AO3, in the top right corner, there’s a drop down menu, if you click “Hi, Name!” on that menu is “My Assignments.” Please find you assignment for this exchange and hit the Default button as soon as you realize you can’t complete your assignment before the deadline so a pinch hitter can be found.

What if I can’t finish in time? Your assignment gives you a choice between five prompts, of which you can choose to fill as many as you like so long as you fill as least one in a way that matches the prompt.

That said, life is crazy for everyone right now and things happen.  If you know you won’t be able to complete your assignment, contact me as quickly as possible so a pinch hitter can be found.  There will be not be a punishment for this, I just make sure everyone gets a present on time.

And of course, you can always submit a late work if/when you do finish, so don’t feel discouraged.

Am I certain to get a gift? So long as you complete your assignment, yes!  All pinch hits will be posted to the tumblr as they come up, and assignments will be due over a week before all gifts are revealed, so that I can ensure that everyone gets a gift.  Gifts will not be revealed if anyone is still missing theirs.

You may still get a gift if you drop out.  Please remember to thank the person who made it for you!

Pinch Hits? What’s that? A pinch hit is when someone’s requests are posted for anyone to claim as a second assignment, to fill for whoever dropped out.  Please follow the Hyrule Exchange tumblr in order to keep track of them, and either send an ask/message to the tumbler account or email scalantian@gmail.com to claim it if you’re willing and able to pick it up.

How do I post my work? Go to AO3's New Work. If you're writing a fic, it's the same process as usual, except that you need to click the button saying that this is an Assignment. If you're drawing art or making edits, please follow this tutorial instead. It's mostly the same, though.

Can I post multiple works? Of course! As long as you finish one prompt you can do as many as you like.

Have any more questions? Feel free to ask!

[thehyruleexchange]

The Hyrule Exchange on AO3

Hey everyone!  It’s just about time for the Hyrule gift exchange on AO3. This is an event aimed to foster goodwill among Legend of Zelda fans, and create a bunch of cool new content.  Here is a schedule for those who are interested in joining.

APR 3 Sign-ups OPEN APR  17 Sing-ups CLOSE APR 21 Prompts SENT JUNE 12 Gifts DUE JUNE 19 Gifts REVEALED

For fanfiction there is a 1k minimum on word count. FanArt minimum is 500x500 with clean lines but can be debated due to type on a case-by-case basis.

[thehyruleexchange]

Interest Check

Hey, ya’ll!  I’m thinking about running a Gift Exchange on AO3 for the Legend of Zelda fandom.  Sign ups would be in late spring 2021.  Let me know if you are interested and share with friends.