#da createathon 2026

[dacreateathon]

Dragon Age Create-a-Thon 2026 Announcement

What is the DA Create-a-Thon?

The Create-a-Thon is an event where DA fandom creators and DA fandom appreciators will be put into teams to try and win the most points for their team! Winning points has two phases:

Fanwork creation period. Creators make their art, fics, renders, music, food, fiber art, or whatever else they like and post to the Collection on Ao3. Physical works such as recipes/food, crochet, knitting, and embroidery will be accepted (pending mod approval). Works will remain hidden until the end of the creation period and teams can win points for each work, with extra points for things like longest fic or most characters in an art piece.

Fanwork appreciation period: Interim points will be tallied and then teams can earn extra points for commenting on fics in the collection (limit 1 point per user per work chapter), writing and posting recommendation lists (1 point per user), or creating works inspired by others in the collection.

The winning team will be announced with all members and will get a custom banner for their team (and bragging rights).

What kind of works can be posted?

Any DA fanworks that were created during the creation period and can be posted to Ao3. Crossovers or AUs will be accepted as long as there is at least 1 DA character. Please try to tag works as accurately as possible, so that others can seek out works they’re interested in during the appreciation period or avoid those that they may not wish to engage with for whatever reason.

Who can participate?

Anyone in the DA fandom who is 18+ and has Ao3 and discord accounts, creators or otherwise! Commenting on fics also earns points for teams, so producing something isn’t necessary to participate! We’ll try and keep the teams even between creators and appreciators.

Unfortunately, this event will be 18+ only.

When will the event be?

Interest form opens: May 15, 2026

Sign-ups open: August 1-23, 2026

Team creation: August 24-31, 2026

Creation period: September 1 - October 18, 2026

Appreciation period: October 19-31, 2026

Results tallied: November 1-7, 2026

[dacreateathon]

Dragon Age Create-a-Thon 2026 Date Announcement!

We're super excited to announce the dates for the 2026 Create-a-thon!

Sign-ups open: August 1-23, 2026

Team creation: August 24-31, 2026

Creation period: September 1 - October 18, 2026

Appreciation period: October 19-31, 2026

Results tallied: November 1-7, 2026

If you're interested in joining us, please fill out the interest form here to be notified via email when signups open! Otherwise, keep an eye on the blog.

[dacreateathon]

Question from the interest form:

How will teams be selected, and will the teams be split only between the four themes, or will there be many smaller teams within each theme all competing against each othet as well as against other theme teams?

Teams will be selected by an indication of your preference during signups! The mods will sort people into teams based on their preference rankings (some people indicate no preference and they will fill in gaps between the teams).

The teams will be split between the four themes! There aren’t any sub-teams within the themes.

You can also indicate if there’s a specific person you’d like to be on a team with (or that you request to not be on a team with). Please try and coordinate your preferences with that person if you’re wanting to be on the same team. If you’re wanting to avoid a specific person, you may not get your first preference of the other person selects the same preference as you. Please try and limit these requests because it can make forming teams quite difficult; if there are too many people you simply cannot be on a team with, this may not be the event for you.

[dacreateathon]

Hi! When signing up, will we have to choose between creator and appreciator or can we sign up as both?

If I’m remembering the form correctly, I believe it’s check boxes for writer, artist, other creator, and appreciator and you can check as many as apply to you!

If you sign up as a creator we usually assume you’ll be around for comments.

Also, it’s not that strict! If you pick writer and decide you want to make art, that’s fine! Or if you pick appreciator and end up wanting to make something, that’s fine! Or if you pick one of the creator types and only do comments, that’s okay too!

The only reason we ask is we try to have even numbers of people who are creators vs JUST appreciators on the same team, but it’s very flexible.

[dacreateathon]

Answered ask:

From the interest form: I would appreciate clear guidelines for non-producing participation. Thats all!

You will be able to sign up as a writer, artist, creator (other types), or as an appreciator! Appreciators participate in the event by commenting on works that are submitted to the collection, making rec lists for work in the collection, or completing a “bingo card” full of tropes from the collection.

Other ways to participate during the appreciation period include making remixes (i.e., turning a created work into a different format such as book binding or podfic), or making works inspired by other works in the collection.

Typically, commenting can earn way more points for their team than creating, since you can earn a point per chapter of a work you comment on, so appreciators are a huge part of the event!

You can also cheer on your teammates during the creation period or help with beta reading. Lots of options to be involved!

You can see more of the nitty gritty on creation and appreciation from last year’s guidelines here.