Once nominations are closed and sorted out, mods will open signups. When signing up, you choose which characters/ships you'd like to receive a gift about, and which characters/ships you will offer to create a gift about. You may only request and offer characters/relationships that are in the tagset.

You may request 3-20 characters and/or ships. You may request either fanart, fanfiction, or both. You may request a work that draws from the characterization and worldbuilding of the manga/Brotherhood, the 2003 anime, or both.

You may offer 3-20 characters and/or ships. You may offer either fanart, fanfiction, or both. You may offer a work that draws from the characterization and worldbuilding of the manga/Brotherhood, the 2003 anime, or both.

There are two types of relationships you can request or offer. Please be aware of the difference, and only request/offer the type of relationship you are willing to receive/create:

• Romantic and/or sexual relationships are indicated by a / sign between the characters' names. For example, if you request or offer Lust/Rose Thomas, this means you want to receive or create a work about a romantic and/or sexual relationship between Lust and Rose. 
• Platonic relationships (friendship, familial, etc.) are indicated by an & sign between the characters' names. For example, if you request or offer Lust & Rose Thomas, this means you want to receive or create a work about a platonic relationship between Lust and Rose. 

The "Any" box means "any character or ship that has been nominated for this exchange." It does not mean "any character or ship in the fandom as a whole". Use this option wisely.

In the "Description" section of the signup form, write some prompts for your gifter to get a better idea of what you want. It's generally a good idea to list out tropes or kinks that you like, as well as prompts specific to your requested characters/ships.

You can also include DNWs (Do Not Wants), which are things you don't want to see in your gift. These can include anything, but may not be used to railroad your gifter into making one exact type of gift (e.g. "DNW anything except a Supernatural crossover where the Elrics and the Winchester brothers investigate a haunted warehouse and Ed gets turned into a cat"). Do not list DNWs that contradict your requests (e.g. requesting a "/" relationship and then DNWing shipping). If you have a DNW that seems to contradict a requested character, ship, or prompt, you may be asked to elaborate by the mods.

It is up to you to make your DNWs clear and specific. For example, if for whatever reason you do not want to receive a gift that depicts sex involving characters under the age of 18, it is a better idea to DNW "depictions of sex involving characters under the age of 18" rather than to DNW "problematic ships" or "child abuse", which may not clearly communicate what you don't want. 

You may NOT use your DNWs to obliquely harass or shame other participants in the exchange. For example:

• If there are certain ships you do not want to see mentioned in your gift, it is completely okay and encouraged to DNW "any non-requested ships" or you may DNW, for example, "Riza/Winry, Roy/Ed, and Ed/Envy", "heterosexual ships", "Roy being shipped with men", "romantic/sexual content between characters who are related or grew up together", etc. 
• You may NOT phrase your DNW as "pedo ships like Roy/Ed or anything toxic", "any incest ships including Ed/Winry, I can't believe I have to say this y'all are gross", "Al in gay ships because marriage is between a man and a woman", "Royai, abuse is wrong you guys", etc.

Anyone seen using their DNWs to attempt to harass or shame other participants or requests will be immediately, permanently banned. Please report shaming DNWs to the mod if you see them.

Please note that this exchange uses "or" matching, and your gifter is only required to create something based on one of your requested characters/ships.

"Dear Creator" letters are not required, but they are welcome and encouraged! These letters are typically written on Dreamwidth, tumblr, or Google Docs, and are then linked in the provided space in your AO3 signup form. This is the opportunity for you to go into more detail about why you like the characters you are requesting and what you enjoy in fic/art, which can help your assigned creator make something perfectly tailored to your preferences! 

If you aren't able to be matched as a recipient, your requests will go out as an initial pinch hit. You don't have to do anything.
 

If you aren't able to be matched as a gifter, we will make a post mentioning that we have unmatchable participants. Then we will send you an email asking you to add to your offers.

Defaulting is dropping your commitment to create your assignment. If for whatever reason you feel you can't write or draw what your recipient is requesting, please default ASAP so the mods can find a new gifter for that request and they can have plenty of time to work on it.

There are no penalties for defaulting, except the following: If you default, and the gifter assigned to you also defaults, you will not be sent out as a pinch hit.

To default, go to your Assignments tab on AO3. You'll see an option to either fulfill or default on your current assignment. Click Default, and the mods will be automatically notified.

A pinch hit is an assignment that, because of defaults or bad luck during matching, does not have a gifter assigned to it. Since everyone deserves a gift, these assignments need to find someone new willing to write/draw them.

Pinch hits will be posted to this journal. To claim them, comment on the PH post with your AO3 username and the number of the PH you want to claim. (Comments will be screened.)

Pinch hits are first come, first serve, so the mods will assign the request to whoever asks for it first. You will receive an email notification from AO3 that you have a new assignment if you successfully claimed a PH.

You do not have to be signed up for the exchange to claim a pinch hit.

A treat is an extra gift you've made for someone you aren't necessarily assigned to.

Treats do not have to meet the minimum requirements, but they must fulfill one of the participant's requests and steer clear of their DNWs.

You do not have to be signed up to write or draw treats.

Treats can be posted at any time, even after the exchange is over.

To post a treat, click the "Post to Collection" button on the collection page. Post the gift as you would normally, making sure you put the username of the person you're treating in the "Gift this work to" box.