Oct 16, 2024
Tutorials and How-To's
Looking for the FAQ? Try here!
How to Nominate
How to Sign Up
Exchange Letters
Using Auto AO3
Fulfilling Your Assignment
Keeping it Anon
Using AO3 for Non-Fanfic Works
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Israel
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Canada
Tutorials and How-To's
Looking for the FAQ? Try here!
How to Nominate
How to Sign Up
Exchange Letters
Using Auto AO3
Fulfilling Your Assignment
Keeping it Anon
Using AO3 for Non-Fanfic Works
About the Exchange
Dragon Age Trans Exchange
The Dragon Age Trans Exchange is an annual AO3 gift exchange with the aim to increase trans representation in DA fanfic. From nonbinary Anders to genderfuck Leliana, there is room for everyone to share ideas centred around trans characters!
This year the event coincides with Trans Day of Visibility (31 March!)
Dragon Age Trans Character Fanwork Exchange 2026 Schedule:
Nominations:
Sign-Ups:
Assignments Out:
Assignments Due:
Works Revealed:
Creators Revealed:
All deadlines are as of 9 AM US Pacific / 12 PM US Eastern / 4 PM UTC+0.
Treats FAQ
Looking for the main FAQ? Try here.
Treats? What do you mean by that?
Treats are extra gifts you can give to either a specific person, to a group of people, or to the entire exchange. Because treats are extra, the expectations are less stringent. Fanfics can be shorter than 1000 words and fanfic doesn't need to have clean lineart. Treats can also take formats not accounting for the exchange, such as podfics, moodboards, fanmixes, etc.
Everyone is assumed to not want treats unless they specify in their sign ups that they want them. Treats to specific people will need to comply with each person's DNW, otherwise the person it is being gifted will need to be removed or the work will need to be changed. If you are unable to make either change, the work can be gifted to the exchange instead by leaving the "gift to" section blank.
I signed up for a treat but didn't get any!
That's quite normal! Treats aren't guaranteed to anyone and may be distributed unfairly. One prompt might receive 3 gifts while another receives none. They're unfairly distributed based on what writers and artists are willing to make and that's the way the cookie crumbles. However, we do have a way to track those who are treatless...
Okay, what's treatless then?
Treatless are people who have signed up for treats but haven't received them yet! The mods will maintain a separate list of all the participants who haven't received a treat so we can do our best for everyone to get one.
How do I submit a treat?
When you've written a treat, submit it to the collection as normal! If you've written it for specific person(s), use the "gift to" section to add their name. If you would prefer to gift it to the exchange as a whole, leave the "gift to" section empty.
A treat will be rejected if it has content related to any of the DNWs of the giftees. You can either remove the person who has the DNW, gift it to the exchange, or rewrite it.
apparently i have the first published ser gilmore x nonbinary cousland fic on ao3. go me! also a rare nonbinary cousland character tagger too.
anyways you should write for @datransexchange if you think there should be more nonbinary, trans, and otherwise genderqueer characters
Mod Team
Currently, the DA Trans Exchange is run by @heylavellan! Queries about the exchange will only be responded to through the contact email, [email protected] or private messages on this account.
heylavellan
heylavellan (he/they) is a 20-something trans guy living in the uk! besides writing fanfic, he enjoys larping and fiber arts!
AI Policy
Part of the joy from exchanges such as this is in creating something for another to enjoy. The DA Trans Exchange believes that fanwork should not be primarily AI generated, as many large scale learning models steal text and artwork from talented creatives without their permission. Furthermore, AI programmes have a huge impact on the environment due to the energy they consume.
That being said, we also recognise that AI is a broad term and that some forms of AI can be used as an assistive tool. We ask our participants to be sensible about their use of AI and automated tools. Our official rule is "Don't submit work which is primarily AI generated." We trust participants to use common sense and intuition to distinguish between something primarily AI generated and their own work. Due to the nebulous definition of AI, we thought it prudent to highlight permitted and prohibited use cases.
Permitted uses of AI include:
Using scripts and programmes to apply filters and effects
Generating a writing prompt
Generating a story outline
Editing images or text that you have created.
Our rules expressly prohibit the submission of text written through a generative text model such as ChatGPT or images which are generated using DALL-E, ChatGPT, or Midjourney.
Exchange and Community Rules
In order to keep a healthy and happy community, we have a list of rules which we expect participants to follow. Violation of the rules are dealt with on a case-by-case basis and may be dealt with by issuing warnings, suspensions, or bans.
Fanwork Rules
All works in the exchange must primarily feature transness.
All ratings and most kinks/fetishes are allowed so long as they do not violate your requester's DNWs and they are tagged appropriately.
The exchange allows "dark fic" including works which deal with substance abuse, transphobia, queerphobia, and other potentially sensitive or triggering themes. This means the exchange allows themes or works you may consider "problematic". Please be sure to list anything you do not want to receive in your requests as a DNW.
The exchange does not accept works featuring minor-aged characters (under 18) in sexual situations.
Please do not alter skintone drastically from canon. In short, no white washing. If you have questions please reach out to moderators.
Please do not change the sexual orientation of canonically homosexual characters (i.e. no pieces which depict Dorian with a female character or Sera with a male character) or make canonically trans characters cis. Other sexuality headcanons are okay. When in doubt, reach out to the moderators!
Works must not be primarily AI generated. See our AI Policy
Community Rules
Be respectful to each other.
This exchange has a zero tolerance policy for transphobia and queerphobia directed toward other members, which is particularly important due to the nature of the exchange. Transphobia and queerphobia can appear in properly tagged works provided they aren't listed in a recipient's DNW. In no circumstance should it be directed at other creators and community members.
If you are open to receiving Explicit-rated works, you must be at least 18 years old and OPT-IN by checking the applicable box when signing up ("E"). Indicating interest for Explicit-rated works is NOT a guarantee you will receive a work at those ratings.
If you are interested in creating Explicit-rated works, you must be at least 18 years old in order to check the applicable box ("E") when giving your offers, and the recipient must have opted into receiving it as well for that pairing. Indicating interest in creating Explicit-rated works is NOT binding; you may choose to create a lower rated work later.
All assignments must be complete by the due date. Please see the Assignment Requirements section for our criteria. It is the responsibility of participants to submit a work that meets all assignment requirements. If you think you will need an extension or are unable to finish your assignment, please contact a mod ASAP.
As an anonymous exchange, we ask you don't reveal yourself or others prior to the reveals date.
All works must be posted to the current year's collection on AO3 for an assignment to count as complete.
This is a moderated exchange. A moderator may contact you with questions or concerns with the email that you provided to AO3 for your account. If you don't have access to that account, please contact AO3 support. Any requests/questions/complaints should go through the moderators via [email protected].
Were you looking for the creator expectations? Try this link.
Creator Expectations
When you sign up to participate in this exchange, you are agreeing to the following:
I agree to create at least one fanwork for my recipient.
Any fanfic will be at least 1000 words.
Any fanart will be complete, with the minimum of clean lineart.
My completed work will be submitted via AO3
Any text will adhere to basic readability standards.
My work will feature one of the requested relationships
This work will be created specifically for this exchange (ie it is a new work I have not yet written)
I will create a work which I believe my recipient will enjoy
I will, to the best of my ability, adhere to the rules of the exchange.
Gifts will honour recipient's DNWs
Use of AI will be limited as described in the AI policy
I will support other creators in the exchange.
I will thank creators who gifted complete works and treats to me, either privately or publicly with a comment.