Turning Secret Santa Exchange 2025

Assignments Due:

Schedule

October 1 - October 31: Sign-Ups

There's only two simple steps to signing up: make an AO3 account and fill out our sign-up form.In the form you will list all the preferences of what you want as a gift and what you want to make as a gift so we can try to pair you up with prompts that you vibe with. There is also a NSFW option for giving/receiving gifts if you are 18+ and opt in for that.Also, make sure your AO3 account has enabled gifting (if you have a new account no worries this is the default setting)You can do this by hovering over your username on the dashboard and going to "my preferences"

The checkbox is under "Collections, Challenges, and Gifts"

Please note there is one last option in the form that asks if you would like your prompts to be public for treats. This means we will post your AO3 name and prompts for anyone to look through and give an extra gift if they really vibe with it - this will be posted on our socials so people who don't sign up for the event can participateSign-ups close at 11:59 PM EST on October 31st

November 7th: Giftee Assignment and Treat List Posted

You will receive an email on November 7th with details on who you are making a gift for and what prompts they want. You will need to reply to the email to confirm that you have received the assignment and have no problems with it (or if you do have a problem, please reply letting us know so we can reassign/work things out)If you have any questions about your gift assignment, do not directly ask your giftee as it is supposed to be a secret on who is making their gift! Instead, please reply to the assignment email with your question so we can forward your question anonymously.For your gift, you will either need to make either a BRAND NEW piece of drawn art (please make it more than just a sketch - try to include either shading or color) or a BRAND NEW piece of writing (must be 2,000 words or more - you can however write two 1000-word pieces for different prompts as long as the total is 2,000).You may NOT use AI to generate your work and if you are found to be doing so you will be banned from the event. Additionally, even though fan edits are lovely this event is for creation of original pieces so they will not be allowed as entries (but you are free to do so as an additional gift if you really want).This is also when we will publish the "Treat List" on our socials - it'll be a document with everyone's prompts so if anyone (even those who didn't sign up) wants to make a random extra gift because they were inspired by the prompts, they can! Just submit it to the AO3 collection like all the other entries following the instructions below but mention that it's an extra "treat"
EDIT: Treat list is now up!

November 7 - December 24th: Creation Period

You now have roughly 7 weeks to make your present for your giftee!When you are done creating the gift, you must submit it to our AO3 Collection with proper tags/ratings/warnings/etc.

If it is art, please refer to this tutorial on how to embed images onto an AO3 work!Once you post it to the collection, the organizer will be able to see you have been a good little elf but no one else can publicly see the work yet so you can still edit and put finishing touches.Remember, your work should be submitted as a gift on AO3 to your giftee - when submitting make sure to fill out this section so your giftee can find your gift easily!

All entries must be in by December 24th at 11:59 PM EST

December 7th: Default deadline / Check-In

On December 7th, we will be sending a check-in email to everyone to confirm they are still dedicated to making their gift (if they haven't submitted it already) - YOU MUST REPLY TO THIS EMAIL WITHIN A WEEK OR WE WILL ASSUME YOU ARE DEFAULTINGBut you don't have to wait until December 7th if you want to drop out - if at any point you are just overwhelmed and don't think you can finish your assignment in time, send us an email ([email protected]) letting us know. No questions asked, no excuses needed, no punishment. Stuff happens, we get it!We would really prefer you do this on or before December 7th though to give us time to get it reassigned to someone else (a pinch-hitter who agreed to do an extra gift or make a gift without receiving one).If you end up not finishing your gift on time and did not reply to the default email by December 14th, you will just be put in time-out jail for next year's event (but are free to join the year after that)
(this is assuming there even is an event next year lol)

December 25th: Gift Reveals!

All gifts/treats will be made public on December 25th at 00:01 AM EST for everyone to enjoy! Artists/Writers can also now post their gift on whatever other platform they want outside of AO3!Remember it is good etiquette to leave a kudo or comment on your gift :)Also please check your emails for a post-event survey~
Have any other questions? Check our FaQ before sending us an email or message on social media (we prefer email though!)

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Help! I don't have an AO3 account!
Answer: You can sign up here and generally make an account within 3 days. If you are really cutting it close to the deadline on filling out the form and still don't have an account, just write "N/A" and we'll follow up with an email - as long as you can still make an account before we send out gift assignments on November 7th you are good! We may also be able to help you out by getting you an expedited invite codeQuestion: Can my fic be in a different language?
Answer: Your fic must be in english unless you and your giftee somehow share the same second language and you ask them (anonymously through us) if they are okay with a different language fic and they reply yesQuestion: I suspect someone used AI to make a fic/art piece what should I do?
Answer: Please email us ([email protected]) about your concerns so we can investigateQuestion: I don't like my prompts/giftee, what should I do?
Answer: Email us ASAP so we can try to arrange a reassignment!Question: How do you decide who is making a gift for whom?
Answer: The organizer looks over everyone's preferences and tries their best to match up similar tastes/preferences. There may be some dice rolling and praying involved. The organizer is not participating as a giftee, only as a pinch hitter, so there is no favoritism involved I really know no one in this fandomQuestion: What if I ended up writing over 2k words but my work isn't complete?
Answer: While we would highly prefer complete works, you may submit what you have and we won't hold it against you as long as you meet the 2,000-word count on AO3.Question: Can I do traditional art instead of digital art
Answer: Of course! As long as you can upload an image of it on AO3 you can use any medium you preferQuestion: I want to participate but I don't think I'm a very good artist/writer...
Answer: There's no skill requirement to join! If you want to join just go for it, we believe in you!Question: How does being a pinch hitter work?
Answer: Whenever someone backs out or needs a reassignment, we will go through our list of pinch hitters and contact them one by one via email to see if they are interested in picking up the gift assignment based on their preferences.Question: How does treating work?
Answer: When we publish the treat list on November 7th, you can look through the prompts and if you think "wow i really want to make a piece based on this prompt" you can do it! No formal process, just make it and submit the work to the collection by December 24th 11:59 PM EST (make sure to tag the gift recipient in the work). It's a great way to participate if you have anxiety about deadlines and formally signing up :)Question: Can I post my gift somewhere other than AO3?
Answer: After all gifts are revealed on December 25th, you can repost your work anywhere you want! You must submit your gift to AO3 first though as that's how everyone will be able to find their gift - if you are having trouble posting to AO3 feel free to email us and we will do our best to help!Question: What happens if I drop?
Answer: We will re-assign the giftee you were assigned to a pinch hitter! You may still receive a gift, but we will not re-assign your prompts if your gifter also decides to drop.Have any other questions? Send us an email ([email protected]) or message on social media (we prefer email though!)