Dunk/Baelor Exchange Event 2026

Your mods most charmed (in alphabetic order): hardsaltdilf, itellyouthisisnottheend, the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

RULES

TIMELINE

APPLICATION FORM (must have AO3 account to join)

SIGN-UPS ARE CLOSED!

COUNTDOWN TIMER TO SUBMISSION

Poster by @hardsaltdilf , full without text here

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

We’ve just about hit the deadline for submissions to DunkBaelorExchange2026! Thank you to everyone whose lovely works we can see have been submitted!!

We’ve heard from a few people that they need a couple of extra hours - so if this is you, a) please contact your mod to say so, and b) please upload your work within the next twelve hours (so by 12 noon UTC, Saturday 11th July).

If we haven’t heard from you or had a submission by then, we will default you and assign a pinch hitter.

@hardsaltdilf , @itellyouthisisnottheend , @the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Last Few Notes!

- For those who have not submitted yet — once you submit, your entry will not be publicly available until after the mods have reviewed and approved!

- While the submission date is July 11, we have allowed ourselves several additional hours to review everything (mostly just looking for gross violations or inability to access), and to manage any problems. Reveals will be on July 12!

- On that note, please make sure that your submission is finalized; we are unable to open posts in draft form.

- On Social Media: we definitely encourage for y’all to post about your work on social media! Please do wait until after official reveal before doing so. When posting, please use our hashtags #dunkbaelorexchange or #dunkbaelorexchanhe2026. Please also tag this blog or any of the mods so we can reblog your work here!

It’s been a lovely time with you all, dearly beloveds. Hang in there! Not that much longer to go now!

- @hardsaltdilf , @itellyouthisisnottheend , @the-road-betwixt

[nichestars]

Can you believe that THIS SATURDAY 40+ new Baelor/Dunk fics are going to drop at once for @dunkbaelorexchange2026?? This knowledge is seeing me through the week tbqh

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

We are sat all the way down too!

But just to clarify: deadline will be on July 11; we scheduled to officially reveal everything on July 12 to give us some time to resolve any remaining issues! Hang in for one more day!

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

6 DAYS TO DEADLINE!!!

We are very happy to see that most of us are still here together! We also extend our most heartfelt thanks to the larger DunkBaelor community for all the love and support we have received!

For artists and authors: you will be getting one more check-in email from your assigned moderator. As always, you need only confirm if you are still on track. If you must needs default, know that there is no shame in that. The sooner we can arrange a pinch hitter for your recipient, the better. As we had noted elsewhere, if we do not hear from you for two consecutive check-ins, we will default your assignment.

Please let us know if you are in need of a beta, or would just like a second set of eyes on your work.

Some useful links:

DBE Countdown Timer

How to fulfill my assignment [AO3 FAQ]

Rule Clarifications:

The Rules

Multichapter Works

Tagging

AI Use

Tips for Uploading Images to AO3

Much love til the end,

@hardsaltdilf, @itellyouthisisnottheend, @the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

For artists:

How to embed images on AO3 [AO3 FAQ]

AO3 does not currently host images, so you would have to host your images elsewhere. The link above includes a list of websites that are incompatible with AO3. The following are good options for image hosting:

Squidge

Free; Needs an account; up to 256MB per image

Catbox

Free; Needs an account; up to 200MB per image

Postimages (https://postimages.org)

Free: Upload up to 32Mb; images up to 1280px; has paid option

X02.me

Free option: 150MB max upload limit

If you have any other image hosting services you would like to recommend, feel free to leave a comment!

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Clarification on Multichapter Works

We place no limits on your creativity, and welcome works from the minimum of 1500 words to gargantuan works of fiction. That being said, keep in mind that there is no expectation to produce a longfic/multichapter work. However, it is expected for each work to be complete and ready to upload by the time of submission. Our goal is for this exchange to be a community event where everyone participating gets a completed work, and gives a completed work!

What we will allow is for authors/artists to release chapters in a staggered fashion to build suspense or whathaveyou. One may freely do this as long as there is a determined upload schedule or plan, and that this plan is communicated to the recipient (ie, in the author’s notes.)

Ardently yours,

@hardsaltdilf , @itellyouthisisnottheend , @the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Reblogging this to address some recent questions regarding longfic!

We encourage you to reach out to your giftee about a schedule. But the general guideline is no less than one chapter once a week. Please reach out further if you have any questions.

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Who was it? Because someone I follow just suddenly had their tumblr (both blogs) vanish as well as their AO3 account was deleted too.

We do not plan to make their identity known through our offices, if we can help it. We shall let them handle it as they will.

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

On AI Usage

Hello everyone, 

We have received multiple reports of a DunkBaelorExchange26 participant suspected of breaking rule #2 of the exchange, around the use of AI. 

For reference:

2) Any form of AI use or plagiarism is strictly prohibited.

We have looked into this and decided, based on the available evidence, that these reports were credible. 

As such, the participant has been removed from the exchange, and they have been notified of this. 

A pinch hitter will sub in for their giftee. 

Thank you to those who sent in reports, and to our wonderful pinch hitters.

Going forward: 

If you suspect a participant is using AI, and have credible evidence, please notify a mod. We will investigate and act appropriately, and we will aim to balance transparency with protecting privacy. That means we will keep usernames private, but we will tell you what the resulting actions of those investigations are. 

To be clear: we are not AI detectives. We will carry out due diligence where we think there is cause to investigate. 

Please do not ask us to undertake time-intensive, emotionally draining investigation without credible evidence, or as a form of harassment. 

We won't lie - this has been really disappointing to deal with, and we know that many of you will be feeling similarly about this. 

DunkBaelorExchange2026 is not a venue for AI-generated works in any way, shape or form: we believe strongly in the ideas, skills and brilliance of our community, and we are hosting this exchange to celebrate that! We (and we hope you) are choosing to focus on the amazing gifts we'll be exchanging in 9 days - we're very excited to see them!

With love,

@hardsaltdilf, @itellyouthisisnottheend, @the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Beloved Dunkbaelorists!

We are but a 10 days away from gifting! Are you all as excited as we are???

As the second check-in has passed, there have been a few participants who we are waiting to hear back from. If you think that might be you, please get in touch with your mod or message us here!

If you are worried that you may have to default (ie, abandon your assignment), we understand. The best possible thing that you can do is to let us know early so we can sub in a pinch hitter.

If we haven’t heard from you for two check-ins in a row, we will let you know that you are considered as automatically defaulted, so please do get in touch!

Most steadfast,

@hardsaltdilf , @itellyouthisisnottheend , @the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Calling for more beta readers! If anyone is interested, please reach out by DM or by replying to this post! Much love 💕

[godtreemyth]

So I started a whole kinky story for my giftee in the @dunkbaelorexchange2026 and today I suddenly just swerved and went with a different prompt of theirs that is nothing like any of my other writing and honestly, loving it.

Sometimes you have to take a chance and hope they like it.

🤞🏽

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

We love to see it! Glad you’re having fun!

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

On: Tagging

Hello, lovelies! We are at the halfway mark (countdown timer here)! We hope all are still doing well and we remain excited to see everyone’s work.

In the meantime, we've had a few questions about tagging, and wanted to highlight some useful tags based on some of the themes in the prompts.

To be clear, tagging is up to you as the creator! This is intended as guidance if you’d like it about commonly used tags that might be useful.

- If you are writing a disabled or chronically ill character, some of these tags might be useful or applicable:

- Chronic Pain

- Chronic Illness

- Disability

- Canon-typical Ableism

- Speaking of canon-typical, the following tags exist:

- Canon-typical homophobia

- Canon-typical violence

- If there’s a consent dynamic going on:

- Dubious consent

- Extremely dubious consent

As per our rules, you are expected to accurately rate your work and tag all necessary trigger warnings.

Official check-ins from your assigned mods will be coming out soon! Until then, feel free to reach out anytime ❤️

Lovingly,

@hardsaltdilf , @itellyouthisisnottheend , @the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Quick question: Can we tag our giftee when we share our stories/art on tumblr on reveal day, or should we send an anonymous ask and check with them first?

Yes! We find no reason that shouldn’t be the case. However, we do invite participants to send us a message if they have any concerns about this.

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Clarification on Multichapter Works

We place no limits on your creativity, and welcome works from the minimum of 1500 words to gargantuan works of fiction. That being said, keep in mind that there is no expectation to produce a longfic/multichapter work. However, it is expected for each work to be complete and ready to upload by the time of submission. Our goal is for this exchange to be a community event where everyone participating gets a completed work, and gives a completed work!

What we will allow is for authors/artists to release chapters in a staggered fashion to build suspense or whathaveyou. One may freely do this as long as there is a determined upload schedule or plan, and that this plan is communicated to the recipient (ie, in the author’s notes.)

Ardently yours,

@hardsaltdilf , @itellyouthisisnottheend , @the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Check-in #1

Good evening lovelies! From this point on, each participant has been randomly assigned a moderator who will serve as their first point of contact. You should be receiving an email in the next 24-48 hours from your assigned mod checking in with you. They may also message you on Tumblr if they are not able to get in touch by email.

Friendly reminders for this check-in:

- We have created a handy countdown timer to the deadline of submissions.

- If you are seeking a beta reader, we do have some volunteers waiting in the wings. Reach out to the moderators, and we would be happy to connect you with one.

- If you are worried that you may not be on track to reach the deadline, reach out to your assigned moderator ASAP. We are happy to help you refine or flesh out ideas if that’s all you need. Otherwise, if you need to default on your assignment, we pass no judgment. You will still receive a gift from your designated gifter, and a pinch hitter will take over for you.

- Needless to say, pinch hitters who end up completing a defaulted assignment will receive an additional gift for their troubles.

- Participants who are already finished may submit to the collection early; your submission will be visible only to the moderators until it’s time for the reveal. You will also retain the ability to edit your work as needed until the final deadline.

Thank you everybody for your enthusiasm and creativity! We wish to see you all through to the end and look forward to your gifts!

@hardsaltdilf , @itellyouthisisnottheend , @the-road-betwixt

[dunkbaelorexchange2026]

Hi! Is there a deadline for posting our submissions to the collection, and can participants post teasers closer to the reveal date?

Thank you for these very good questions!

The deadline for posting will be July 11 2026 at midnight. Knowing that we all dwell in different time zones, we have made this countdown timer to correspond with the timeline set on AO3. This timer is now linked on the pinned post of this blog.

As for teasers, while we very much share in your excitement, we think things would be much more enjoyable if anonimity can be preserved as much as possible. To that end, we think it best not to post any teasers at all. Of course you may share previews of your work with friends and betas.

With love,

@hardsaltdilf , @itellyouthisisnottheend , @the-road-betwixt