Welcome to the first round of the Horrible Histories fic exchange!
Those who sign up will be assigned to write a complete story of at least 1,000 words for someone else in the exchange, featuring one of the ships they request. In return you will receive a story of at least 1,000 words featuring one of the ships you request.
There will be a week of nominations followed by a week of signups, and then there will be six weeks to write the fics. Authors will remain anonymous until a week after the fics go live, when it will be revealed who wrote which story. During the last week of the six-week writing period there will be a free-for-all period called "Madness", when everyone's requests will be revealed and anyone will have the opportunity to write extra stories.
What is the schedule of the exchange?
Nominations: 1 - 7 August
Signups: 10 - 16 August
Assignments sent out by: 18 August
Madness opens: 21 September
Assignments due: 1 October
Fics revealed: 5 October
Authors revealed: 12 October
There is a gap between each stage to make sure we have enough time to deal with any problems that come up. If everything goes smoothly, the opening of signups and sending out of assignments may happen a day or two earlier.
What do I need to do to take part?
You just need an account on the Archive of Our Own (AO3). This is where the signups, matching, and posting of stories will take place. If you don't already have an AO3 account, you can request an invite and you should receive one within 24 hours.
You do not need a Tumblr for the exchange, but we suggest you either follow this blog or its RSS feed to make sure you see all the important updates.
Who is running this? How can I contact you?
The moderators are aestivali and amine_eyes. You can send us an ask, or email us at hhexchangemod(at)gmail(dot)com and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
Which ships are eligible?
For characters from the show, any ship is eligible as long as one of the characters in it appeared on screen during any episode of Horrible Histories or the HH Prom. (It doesn't matter whether they are real historical figures or fictional characters, or even whether they were given a name in the sketch.)
For the cast, any ship is eligible as long as one of the people in it appeared on screen during at least three episodes of Horrible Histories or Gory Games and all people involved in the ship are over 18 years of age.
We are allowing both romantic and/or sexual ships such as het, slash, femslash, and poly, as well as platonic and/or familial relationships like friendships, siblings, parent-child and so on. Romantic relationships will be specified with a slash (/) while platonic relationships will have an ampersand (&).
To give you an idea, the following are examples of the kind of ships that could be nominated:
Queen Victoria/Prince Albert
George III & George IV
Ludwig van Beethoven/Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
DI Bones/Mike Peabody
Emperor Elagabalus/Hierocles
Christopher Marlowe/William Shakespeare
Boudicca/Cleopatra/Elizabeth I
Martha Howe-Douglas/Larry Rickard
Rattus & Dave Lamb
Mat Baynton/Charles II
... and of course many more!
How many ships will be available?
To get things started, the mods have already added the most popular character and cast ships (as determined from what's already been posted on the anonmeme and AO3) to the pool of nominated ships. The only other ships which will be available for requesting/offering during the signup process are those which are nominated during the nominations period. You don't have to take part in nominations to sign up to write a fic, but if nobody else has nominated the ships you want then they won't be available on the signup form.
Please note that romantic and platonic ships for the same characters will need to be nominated, requested and offered separately: e.g. you can't use "Charles II & Sotherby" to request a slash fic, nor "Blenkinsop/Maltravers" to request friendship fic. Also, moresomes count as different tags to pairings even if they involve the same characters. So if you offer to write "William Beatty/Thomas Hardy/Horatio Nelson" you won't be matched up with someone who requests "Thomas Hardy/Horatio Nelson" unless you also offer that pairing separately.
You can see which ships have already been approved in this post.
How many ships can I nominate?
You can nominate up to five ships total, covering both character and cast ships. You can choose to nominate just one ship, or even none at all - and if you don't use all your nominations to begin with, you can edit your nominations later to add more, up until the time nominations close. But if any of your nominations have already been processed by the mods, you won't be able to change those ones, so don't waste a slot on a ship you're not sure of.
What is the minimum/maximum wordcount?
The minimum wordcount for the main exchange is 1,000 words. The minimum wordcount for Madness is 100 words.
There is no maximum wordcount, but remember that the fic you turn in must be complete. If you can write a 50,000 word story in six weeks, go for it! But if you start a long fic and don't complete it before the deadline it will count as a default even if you've written more than 1,000 words of it.
How many ships can I request when I sign up?
You can request up to five ships; you must request at least three.
They can be all character ships, all cast ships, or a mixture of these - it's entirely up to you. But please be careful if you are requesting a ship that involves a character from HH with a historical figure who hasn't been featured on the show, or anything else unusual like this, because fewer people are likely to offer these ships. Please make sure you also request a couple of more common ships, otherwise it might be hard for us to find someone to write for you.
How many ships can I offer to write?
You must offer at least three ships. The maximum you can specify individually is twenty, but there will also be a checkbox for you to indicate that you are willing to write any of the nominated ships. The ships you offer can include the ships you requested, but they don't have to.
Please don't sign up for a ship on the assumption that you won't be assigned to write it: the universe is a funny place and you are practically guaranteed to get that one. The mods will not reassign anyone who offered a ship they didn't really want to write, so please don't offer a ship unless you'd be comfortable writing it.
Can I change what I've signed up for?
Until signups are closed you can edit your signup as much as you like, including deleting it altogether. But once signups have closed you won't be able to change it any further.
What happens if nobody requests any of the things I've offered?
We'll contact you and ask you to offer some additional ships so that we can match you to a recipient. If this happens it will delay the sending out of assignments, so please try not to make your offers too obscure. Once more than five people have signed up, you should be able to see which ships are being offered and requested, so you will be able to edit your signup to try and prevent this from happening.
What are the optional details?
There will be a box for you to provide extra details about the ships you've requested, if you want to. You can use it to describe what you like about the ship, suggest a few story ideas, list tropes you like, etc. There will also be a box for you to provide a link to a longer author letter.
Please note that these details are optional for your writer as well as for you. Please don't demand one particular thing from them. In spirit of exchanges, many people try to fulfil their recipient's requests as closely as possible, but not everyone is capable of every kind of writing. Don't insist that the only thing that will make you happy is a 30,000 word plotty mystery, or that you only really want one of the ships you requested, because your writer could be someone who usually writes 2,000 word fluff fics, or who was matched to you on a different ship. And being so clearly unable to give you what you want will make your writer (and the mods) unhappy.
It's fine to express an interest in certain genres, but the point of the optional details is to provide your author with ideas and options that will hopefully inspire them, not to force them into writing Your Perfect Story. We do ask that writers not contradict any specific dislikes or squicks listed, but otherwise it's up to each writer how close they stick to those optional details - as long as the fic is focused on one of the ships you requested.
What is the author letter?
You can make a public post - on your Tumblr, or wherever you like - for your assigned writer to read. It can be a good way of providing details which apply to all your requests, such as your squicks and your favourite tropes, so you don't have to repeat them on the signup form. It also gives you more space to talk in-depth about the ships, possible scenarios, and so on, and can function as a handy one-page summary for your writer.
Like the optional details, author letters are optional for both writers and recipients, so you aren't required to write one, nor are you required to follow what your recipient says in theirs as long as you don't ignore their specific Do Not Wants.
Some people like to use these letters to scope out potential extra fics in advance of Madness, so they will probably be read by more than just your assigned writer. To increase the likelihood of receiving a treat, don't forget to list your AO3 username and exactly which ships you asked for! We also suggest you tag them with "#hhexchange author letter" to make them easy for people to find. After signups close, we will publish a list of the letters on that tag, as well as any off-Tumblr author letters that have been emailed to us.
More information about optional details and author letters will be provided in the signup post.
How will you match people up?
We will be using AO3's automated matching software to streamline the process. You will be assigned to someone who has requested at least one of the ships you offered. There is no guarantee that more than one of their requests will match what you offered (although they may do) but you only need to write one fic.
Depending on how much overlap there is between people's offers and requests, some participants may have two writers assigned to them, while others may be sent out to pinch-hitters straight away. It's unlikely that you'll be assigned to write for the person who is also writing for you, although it is possible.
As a sketch show fandom, the potential number of matches is already huge - and the greater the number of potential matches, the slower and more complicated the matching process will be. We are matching based on ships rather than characters to prevent any problems with cross-era requests, but we will not be matching people by preferred ratings, optional details, or anything like that. Please be prepared to be a little flexible in what you offer and request.
None of my recipient's requested ships match what I offered. What do I do?
In the unlikely event that something goes wrong with the matching process, send an email to hhexchangemod(at)gmail(dot)com and we'll investigate. If you have somehow been assigned to someone you shouldn't have been, we will reassign you to someone else in the exchange whose requests do match what you offered to write.
I like several of my recipient's prompts. Can I write them more than one fic?
Yes! As long as you write one complete fic that is at least 1,000 words by the deadline, you can write as many additional fics as you like. If the extra fics are less than 1,000 words they can be uploaded as part of Madness, where the minimum wordcount is lowered to 100 words.
I matched on one ship but I've had an idea for one of my recipient's other prompts. Can I write that instead?
You can write any of their requested ships, whether you originally offered them or not - that's entirely up to you. But please don't write a fic focusing on a ship they didn't request, even if you know they like it, unless they give you permission to do so in their optional details or author letter.
What happens if I can't complete a story in time?
Let us know as soon as possible, so we can find someone else to write a story for your assigned recipient. We understand that this happens sometimes, so just either click the "default" button on AO3 or send an email to hhexchangemod(at)gmail(dot)com and let us know you need to drop out. If you haven't uploaded a complete 1,000 word fic by the deadline, you will be considered to be an automatic default. If you know you aren't going to finish in time, please don't just let the deadline pass, so that we don't have a desperate scramble to find a last minute pinch-hitter. We also want the pinch-hitter to have as much time as possible to get a story done.
If you default and you want to take part in any future rounds, you will be required to complete one 1,000 word story (either for your original recipient or someone else involved in the exchange) before you are allowed to sign up. We feel this requirement is a fair way to include those who have had trouble in the past but genuinely want to contribute, while excluding those who simply want to abuse the system.
Also, we ask that you still comment on any fics you receive even if you default. You might feel guilty about defaulting, but your author wrote that gift especially for you, so please do them the courtesy of leaving them some feedback - even if you didn't produce giftfic for someone else, you can still give your writer the gift of a comment.
If one of the participants drops out, we will find someone else to write a story for their recipient so that everyone who writes a fic will still receive one on reveal day.
Volunteering as a pinch-hitter is entirely optional. There will be a box on the signup form where you can put your email if you are interested in writing an extra story for someone whose original writer has defaulted. If you aren't signing up for the main exchange but would still like the option of being a pinch-hitter, you can email hhexchangemod(at)gmail(dot)com with the ships you'd be prepared to write and we'll add you to the list.
(Note that if you default and then your assigned writer defaults as well, we will not find a pinch-hitter to write a story for you.)
How are pinch-hitters chosen?
When we need a pinch hit, we will send out an email to all potential pinch-hitters who offered at least one of the ships that person requested. This email will include all of the ships, optional details, and any author letter that they entered on the signup form. If you would like to take that pinch hit, just reply to that email. After 24 hours, we will select one of those who replied to the message as the official pinch-hitter. (This delay should keep pinch-hits open to people in all timezones, and gives you a little time to consider if it's really something you can write, instead of being preferential to whoever replies quickest.) The selected pinch-hitter will then be bound by the same rules regarding ships, length, defaulting, etc. as the original writer was.
If you're really inspired by a prompt but you don't get assigned as a pinch-hitter, don't worry! You can still write it as a treat for Madness.
For the final week of the writing period, all prompts will be made public and anyone will be able to produce additional fics for any of the participants. There will be a separate collection for these treats and a lower minimum wordcount of 100, although they will still need to match one of the recipient's requests.
Writing treats for Madness is totally optional and you don't have to produce anything more than the original 1,000 word fic you signed up to write. Also, you don't need to have signed up for the main exchange to write a treat for someone - everyone is welcome to join in with it.
This is intended to provide a nice little bonus for the participants, so we can't guarantee you will receive any treats, and please make sure you finish your assigned fic before concentrating on any extra fics. The collection for Madness will remain open after the deadline for the assigned fics (October 1), right up until all of the stories are revealed on October 5, so you should have time to squeeze in any little treats you want to do.
When will we find out who wrote what?
Fics will be anonymous for the first week after the collection is revealed. Because of this period of anonymity, we ask that you try to keep your recipient's identity a secret for the during of the exchange, and don't talk about the details of your fic in public. You can make general posts about the exchange (e.g. "I've started my fic and it's going well") but please remember that your recipient will be able to look you up afterwards and see what you said - so don't moan about how "all of their requests are stupid" or anything like that! If you have a genuine problem with your assignment, please contact the mods in private and we'll see what we can do.
Does that mean I can't use a betareader?
No, you are encouraged to get someone to look over your fic for you! You can show the fic to them in private, but please don't post it publically before the fics are revealed. And make sure your betareader isn't your recipient - if you find a new betareader on Tumblr or somewhere else, doublecheck that they aren't on AO3 under a different name, because that could spoil the surprise!
What can I do with my fic once the exchange is over?
Once the authors have been revealed, you are free to post the fic anywhere else you like: Tumblr, LiveJournal, wherever. AO3 allows people to edit their works in perpetuity after they've been uploaded, so you'll be able to fix any typos or other errors that you notice, even if it's a year later.
All we ask is that you do not delete the story you wrote. It was a gift for your recipient, which they received in return for producing a gift for someone else, and it's not fair to take it away. If you no longer want your name attached to the story, we ask instead that you orphan it. Anyone who deletes their giftfic will be banned from all future rounds of the exchange.
I don't like the fic I received. What do I do?
Unfortunately we can't guarantee that you will receive something you like, just something at least 1,000 words long involving one of the ships you requested. Please thank your writer anyway, and hopefully there will be other fics in the exchange that you can enjoy.
However, if the fic you received is less than 1,000 words, is incomplete, includes something you specifically listed as a dislike, or does not feature one of the ships you requested, please email the mods at hhexchangemod(at)gmail(dot)com and we will look into it.
Unfortunately, it would almost certainly make the matching process too complicated if we allowed people to choose whether they wanted to give or receive fic and/or art, so only fic is allowed for this exchange. But we are planning to run a separate art exchange, depending on how many people are interested, so please stay tuned for information about that in a few days' time!
