2015 FAQ
What is Tag! You're It?
Tag! You're It! is an AO3-hosted fic and art exchange. Unlike most exchanges, which focus on characters or ships, this one favors freeform tags for genres, settings, tropes and kinks.
What is the schedule for the 2015 round?
July 20 - Nominations open
July 28 - Nominations close
August 02 - Sign ups open
August 14 - Sign ups close
October 02 - Fanfics due
October 08 - Final pinch hits due
October 09 - Works revealed
October 12 - Authors revealed
What are nominations?
In order to keep things from getting out of hand, we have a nomination period during which you can nominate the fandoms, characters and tags you are interested in. Here's our 2015 tag set. The nomination form is limited to four fandoms, five characters for each fandom and four total tags.
Fandoms with titles that aren't originally in a language that uses Latin characters should be nominated in the format of transliterated title | English title, regardless of what the AO3 tag is. Fandoms that don't follow this format won't be accepted.
Some complicated/hard to deal with fandoms won't be accepted until after nominations close, so that they can be processed all at once.
Each character must be in the fandom they are nominated for. You also have the option of nominating character groups in addition to individual characters. When nominating groups, please use the format group: Character A & Character B. For romantic relationships, please use the format group: Character A/Character B instead. Character order does not matter. Do not mix & and / in a single group nomination.
While there isn't an official limit to the amount of characters you can include in a group, we ask that you don't go overboard. Keep in mind the nature of this exchange and try to make yourself reasonably matchable.
How do sign ups work?
Sign ups will take place on AO3, and will be visible. You must make a minimum of three requests. Each request needs exactly one fandom and a minimum of three tags. You can make up to ten requests, with up to twenty tags in each. For characters you can select from zero to twenty or any. There will also be a place to put additional info, and a place to link to another website where you can post a longer letter for your author.
You must also offer to make gifts for others. You have to make a minimum of three offers. Each offer must consist of one fandom and at least three tags. You can offer up to twenty tags, and from zero to twenty or any characters.
How does matching work?
AO3 will match participants on a minimum of one request, where the fandom and at least one tag and one character have to coincide.
What about fic and art requirements?
The fics must be complete, stand on their own and have at least one thousand words. You must write a story about one of the requester's fandoms and incorporate at least one of their requested tags and characters/character groups. How they are incorporated is entirely dependent on the type of tag you matched on. Tags like "Summer Holidays" and "Alien Invasion" would probably be used very differently.
As for art, you must submit a fully finished piece, which can be either traditional or digital. It can't be on lined paper. It can't be pure photo manip, nor can it be graphics. Artists have to create the majority of the piece themselves. Of course, the rule from the previous paragraph about incorporating at least one requested tag and character/character group into the gift also applies here.
What tags are allowed/not allowed?
Genre, tropes, settings, kinks, descriptors, etc. are all allowed. We do not allow Tumblr-style, fandom-specific and character-specific tags. But we can help you come up with general tags, so you still can get what you want regardless of your desired fandom. For example, instead of "Silver Millennium" as a Sailor Moon-specific tag, we would suggest "Past Lives" as a neutral, pan-fandom alternative.
EDIT: Crossover tags are allowed, with the following caveats:
1) Crossover tags can only specify fandom name and nothing else--no eras, genres, or characters. For example, "Crossover - Harry Potter" is okay, but "Crossover - Harry Potter Next Gen" is not.
2) Fandoms must be reasonably well-known. For example, "Crossover - Pretty Cure" would probably be rejected, but "Crossover - Sailor Moon" would be accepted.
3) When signing up, please make sure that each request includes at least three tags not related to crossovers.
What if I can't finish for whatever reason?
If you can't finish for whatever reason, then you can default using the default button on your assignment. There is no penalty for defaulting, and no questions will be asked, although contacting us is always nice. However, if you default and the person assigned to you defaults as well, then you will not get a gift.
What are pinch hits?
Pinch hits are assignments that either someone defaulted on or were initially unmatchable. Someone agrees to write them out of the kindness of their heart.
What about treats?
Treats are gifts for people that you did not have to do. You do them because you want to. There is no minimum word count for treats, and they do not have to be fic.
How can I contact you?
Feel free to leave comments either here or at
tagyourit. You can also send us an email at tag.exchange.mod(at)gmail.com.
And now, it's our turn to ask you all a question: if we allowed art in this exchnage, would you be interested in offering or requesting it? Please leave a comment to let us know what you think. Thanks! Art is in.
Tag! You're It! is an AO3-hosted fic and art exchange. Unlike most exchanges, which focus on characters or ships, this one favors freeform tags for genres, settings, tropes and kinks.
What is the schedule for the 2015 round?
July 20 - Nominations open
July 28 - Nominations close
August 02 - Sign ups open
August 14 - Sign ups close
October 02 - Fanfics due
October 08 - Final pinch hits due
October 09 - Works revealed
October 12 - Authors revealed
What are nominations?
In order to keep things from getting out of hand, we have a nomination period during which you can nominate the fandoms, characters and tags you are interested in. Here's our 2015 tag set. The nomination form is limited to four fandoms, five characters for each fandom and four total tags.
Fandoms with titles that aren't originally in a language that uses Latin characters should be nominated in the format of transliterated title | English title, regardless of what the AO3 tag is. Fandoms that don't follow this format won't be accepted.
Some complicated/hard to deal with fandoms won't be accepted until after nominations close, so that they can be processed all at once.
Each character must be in the fandom they are nominated for. You also have the option of nominating character groups in addition to individual characters. When nominating groups, please use the format group: Character A & Character B. For romantic relationships, please use the format group: Character A/Character B instead. Character order does not matter. Do not mix & and / in a single group nomination.
While there isn't an official limit to the amount of characters you can include in a group, we ask that you don't go overboard. Keep in mind the nature of this exchange and try to make yourself reasonably matchable.
How do sign ups work?
Sign ups will take place on AO3, and will be visible. You must make a minimum of three requests. Each request needs exactly one fandom and a minimum of three tags. You can make up to ten requests, with up to twenty tags in each. For characters you can select from zero to twenty or any. There will also be a place to put additional info, and a place to link to another website where you can post a longer letter for your author.
You must also offer to make gifts for others. You have to make a minimum of three offers. Each offer must consist of one fandom and at least three tags. You can offer up to twenty tags, and from zero to twenty or any characters.
How does matching work?
AO3 will match participants on a minimum of one request, where the fandom and at least one tag and one character have to coincide.
What about fic and art requirements?
The fics must be complete, stand on their own and have at least one thousand words. You must write a story about one of the requester's fandoms and incorporate at least one of their requested tags and characters/character groups. How they are incorporated is entirely dependent on the type of tag you matched on. Tags like "Summer Holidays" and "Alien Invasion" would probably be used very differently.
As for art, you must submit a fully finished piece, which can be either traditional or digital. It can't be on lined paper. It can't be pure photo manip, nor can it be graphics. Artists have to create the majority of the piece themselves. Of course, the rule from the previous paragraph about incorporating at least one requested tag and character/character group into the gift also applies here.
What tags are allowed/not allowed?
Genre, tropes, settings, kinks, descriptors, etc. are all allowed. We do not allow Tumblr-style, fandom-specific and character-specific tags. But we can help you come up with general tags, so you still can get what you want regardless of your desired fandom. For example, instead of "Silver Millennium" as a Sailor Moon-specific tag, we would suggest "Past Lives" as a neutral, pan-fandom alternative.
EDIT: Crossover tags are allowed, with the following caveats:
1) Crossover tags can only specify fandom name and nothing else--no eras, genres, or characters. For example, "Crossover - Harry Potter" is okay, but "Crossover - Harry Potter Next Gen" is not.
2) Fandoms must be reasonably well-known. For example, "Crossover - Pretty Cure" would probably be rejected, but "Crossover - Sailor Moon" would be accepted.
3) When signing up, please make sure that each request includes at least three tags not related to crossovers.
What if I can't finish for whatever reason?
If you can't finish for whatever reason, then you can default using the default button on your assignment. There is no penalty for defaulting, and no questions will be asked, although contacting us is always nice. However, if you default and the person assigned to you defaults as well, then you will not get a gift.
What are pinch hits?
Pinch hits are assignments that either someone defaulted on or were initially unmatchable. Someone agrees to write them out of the kindness of their heart.
What about treats?
Treats are gifts for people that you did not have to do. You do them because you want to. There is no minimum word count for treats, and they do not have to be fic.
How can I contact you?
Feel free to leave comments either here or at
tagyourit. You can also send us an email at tag.exchange.mod(at)gmail.com.
And now, it's our turn to ask you all a question: if we allowed art in this exchnage, would you be interested in offering or requesting it? Please leave a comment to let us know what you think. Thanks! Art is in.