Managed to snag two worldstate comms from @maturiin! I'm so in love with my precious beans being in love!!!! LOOK AT HOW HAPPY AND CAREFREE THEY ALL ARE!!!
Come one, come all to this year's Handers Gift Exchange! For those new to the concept, a fandom gift exchange is an event in which participants create fanworks to give to one another, based off their prompts, preferences, and ships! Then giftees will leave comments on any gifts they receive and the love for Handers will be shared.
Schedule:
March 22 - April 5: Sign-ups
April 6 - 9: Matching & Assignments Sent Out
April 10 - June 7: Creation & Posting Period
With additional check-ins on May 1-3 and May 29-31. Participants may post any time during the creation period dates, not just at the end.
Sign Ups Begin March 22, 2026.
Rules, Guidelines, and FAQ under the cut:
Q. When will assignments go out, and when is my gift due?
A. Assignments will go out on or before April 9, 2026. You can post your gift any time during the creation period, but they absolutely must be posted by June 7, 2026.
Q. Will there be check-ins?
A. Yes. Mods will be checking in with participants the weekends of May 1-3 and May 29-31. If you are struggling to complete a gift or haven’t started by then we would strong encourage you to flag this to a mod so that we can arrange a pinch-hitter if necessary. We understand that life happens, so we won’t hold it against you if you need to drop out - we just want to be sure that your recipient still gets a gift!
Q. How do I share my gift?
A. All gifts should be posted on AO3 and on tumblr. Gifts should be posted to the 2026 Handers Gift Exchange collection on AO3 or Tumblr. Your recipient should be clearly tagged using AO3's gift function, or Tumblr posts should tag the recipient directly. Tumblr posts should also tag in the handers-time blog so that we can find it to reblog it.
Q. How big should my gift be?
A. Fanfic should reach a minimum word count of 1,000 words. Fanart should be at least a clean sketch or completed lineart, depending on how you view your artstyle.
Q. Is this an anonymous gift exchange?
A. No, but please do not tell your giftee until you have officially posted your gift. The reveal will occur the moment you post it!
Q. Are there any rules about commenting?
A. Yes. You must comment on any gift made for you. This should be a comment of at least 3 sentences in length.
Q. I have another question.
A. Please send an ask to the handers-time mods (either to @dismalzelenka, @un-shit-yourself, or @storybookhawke) and we’d be happy to help.
will all great neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?
a handers tarot card i drew a bit ago inspired by the national theatre of korea’s macbeth poster. happy dragon age day—this series and these characters mean so, so much to me ❤️
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
I started writing this ages ago in response to this ask. I realize on reread that I didnt quite capture what the anon was laying out here, but I hope they enjoy this anyways and know how much their kindness means to me. ❤️
Also thank you @armoredinmoonlight for beta reading 🙏🙏
