recursiveexchange | Rules & Info (Reply)

Recursive Exchange is a fanwork exchange for requesting fanfiction and fanart of other fanworks! Recursive fanfiction is frequently called "fic of fic" and (in a fannish context) recursion essentially means treating a fanwork as a canon source material.

Schedule

Nominations open: April 17th
Signups open (noms still open): April 27th
Nominations close: May 3rd
Signups close: May 4th
Assignments out: ideally May 7th
Assignments due: June 15th
Work reveals: June 22nd
Creator reveals: June 29th

All closing times, opening times, and deadlines are 10pm EDT.

Information

A gift exchange is a fanwork challenge where participants sign up to create a fanwork and in return receive a fanwork as a gift. For this exchange, participants may create/receive a fic of 1000 words or a finished piece of drawn art.

The stages of the exchange are:

Nominations — the mods collect information about works participants want to request and build a tagset.
Sign ups — once we have a tagset, participants fill out a sign up form on AO3 that includes offers and requests. For this exchange, nominations stay open during this time as we expect people will need to wait for permission before nominating for some of their desired fanworks.
Matching — the mods use the AO3 challenges system to match participants based on requested tags
Assignments/creation period — participants receive an email listing all of their assigned recipient's requests; they must create one (1) fanwork matching the requirements laid out below or else default.
Due date/reveals — assuming all gifts are in, the collection is revealed but kept anonymous for 1 week. If there are outstanding pinch hits, we will keep the collection unrevealed until all pinch hits are filled.

Below there's information specific to nominations, sign ups, assignments, and posting that you will definitely need. You can also find a glossary that should be helpful if you're new to talking about recursive fic and an FAQ!

Please feel free to ask the mods lots of questions! You can comment on this post or email recursiveexchange@protonmail.com — but please use email for anything that might reveal who you've been assigned to.

Rules

Technically this whole post is a rules post, and you should read it all the way through. However, here are some key highlights:

Permission for further transformation is required to nominate fanwork(s).
Do not pressure, guilt, or harass creators into giving permission.
You are not allowed to request that your creator write an ending for incomplete fanworks or otherwise try to "write what comes next" for WIPs.
Assignments are secret; don't talk about them in public. Send questions for your recip through the mods.
You must avoid your recip's stated Do Not Want(s), even for treats.
Setting-change AUs and crossovers are opt-in only.
You must use the "Inspired By" field to link back to the work you've recursed.
Although we would like everyone who gives a gift to get a gift and will do our best to advertise pinch hits, we will only hold up work reveals for lingering pinch hits that meet the request minimums outlined in the "Sign ups" section of this post.
Participants are expected to be civil to one another. Mods will deal with infractions on a case by case basis but reserve the right to ban participants for mean-spirited behavior including (but not limited to): harassment on any platform, release or abuse of personal information (doxxing), deliberate spitefic, egregiously bad faith participation, or derogatory remarks in summaries, author's notes, or comments.

Nominations

You may nominate an unlimited amount of fanworks in an unlimited amount of parent fandoms.
All nominations will be processed via google form. If for some reason you can't use the form, email us at recursiveexchange@protonmail.com and we will work it out!
Nominations will stay open through most of sign ups.
Full nomination guidelines can be found here; the post covers fandom and fanwork eligibility, explains the tag formatting, and lays out the criteria for acceptable transformative works permissions.

Getting permission

Permission statements must meet all of these criteria:

Permission must be given for both recursive fic and fanart.
The permission statement must be posted on an account clearly, unambiguously associated with the account that posted the work you are nominating. (You may have to include a note with your nomination that says something like "This is definitely the author's tumblr because they link to it in the author's note of Chapter 3.")
The permission statement must be publicly available on the internet, on a site where one doesn't need an account to see it. (For example, we won't join a discord server or accept screenshots of DMs/emails/etc.)
The permission statement can't contain any limitations requiring participants contact the creator of the work before they can create recursive fic/art.

Some creators will have already made their position on recursive works clear — for fic writers on AO3, a blanket permission for transformative works statement on their profile is the most likely, so check there first.

For a lot of creators you will have to ask. The simplest way to get permission on a work on AO3 is to ask about it in the comments on the work. We suggest you ask for permission in a way that mentions both fic and fanart. Please be polite and considerate and be ready to take "no" for an answer!

You can't nominate a work until you have permission, so we suggest you ask as soon as you know you want to nominate a work.

Works that have been orphaned on AO3 do not need permission to nominate.

Giving permission

We hope to see a lot of nominated works that were written for other exchanges, and we know some people will want to request recursive fanworks of their own stuff! Please put a permission statement in your AO3 profile or on the work(s) you want to be eligible and then link it in the comments on the promo/opt-in post. Note that individual works will still have to be nominated, but the comments section of that post will function to announce to other people that you've given permission.

Special Note About Incomplete Works and Incomplete Series

For this exchange, you are allowed to nominate incomplete fanworks and incomplete fanwork series. However, requests that ask for "complete this fanwork" or "write the final chapter of this incomplete fanwork" are banned.

Special Note About Nominating Single Fics From Larger Series

A more comprehensive overview of how this works during nominations is available in the nominations guidelines, but here are some highlights:

This option is provided so that complicated series which have full works focused on minor characters, secondary ships, etc will be easier to request/offer.
Anyone requesting/offering a tag for a single fic from a larger fic series is still requesting/offering the entire fic series.
Works filling fic series tags can take place at any point during that series, even if the tag is for a specific fic.

Sign Ups

Request/Offer Minimums

1-10 requests.
1-10 offers.
Each request and offer can have 1 parent fandom, 1-20 fanworks, 1-2 mediums, and 1-7 character categories.
You must request fanwork tags from 2+ creators.
The absolute minimum to sign up is:
- One request with 1 parent fandom with 2 fanworks from different creators, 1 medium, and 1 character category.
- One offer with 1 parent fandom, 1 fanwork, 1 medium, and 1 character category that matches at least 1 request besides your own.
If you are requesting less than 6 fanwork tags across 3 parent fandoms, and your pinch hit lingers until the day works are due (or one week if you were defaulted on less than a week before the due date) you will be asked to add additional parent fandoms/fanworks. If you are unable or unwilling to add additional parent fandoms/fanworks, your pinch hit will stay up, but we won't hold up reveals for you. We will hold reveals until everyone who requests 3+ parent fandoms/6+fanworks has a gift.
Original Works exception: We will waive the 3 parent fandoms rule if you are requesting an adequate amount of tags from the Original Works parent fandom. For example, we would hold the exchange for:
- A participant requesting 6 OW fanworks from 2+ creators
- A participant requesting 4 OW fanworks and 2 MCU fanworks from 2+ creators.
- A participant requesting 4 OW fanworks and 20 MCU fanworks from 2+ creators.

Other Information

The seven character categories are:
- I want recursive fanwork about the main pairing in this fanwork (shipfic) — the "main pairings" are defined during the nominations process. Requesting this means requesting a romantic/sexual pairing.
- I want recursive fanwork about one or more of the main characters in this fanwork (gen) — The "main characters" are defined during the nominations process. Requesting this means requesting a gen or platonic fanwork.
- I want recursive fanwork about minor or background ships in this fanwork (shipfic) — Any pairing that isn't the main pairing of a work as defined during the nominations process is a minor or background pairing, so this option gives your creator a lot of freedom if you're requesting a work that mentions a lot of ships. Requesting this means requesting a romantic/sexual pairing.
- I want recursive fanwork about minor or background characters in this fanwork (gen) — "minor or background" characters includes any character in the work, named or unnamed, that isn't a main character/part of the main pairing. However "minor or background characters" does not include characters who exist in the parent fandom but aren't mentioned in the requested fanwork.
- I want recursive fanwork about non-canon ships in this fanwork (shipfic). — Any pairing involving characters that were not in a ship in the original fanwork. The characters should be from the fanwork, unless requested by the recip. Requesting this means requesting a romantic/sexual pairing.
- I want recursive fanwork about original characters in this fanwork (gen or shipfic) — "original characters" means new characters created for your gift by your creator, not original characters present in the requested fanwork.
- I want recursive fanwork about one or more non-canon characters in this fanwork (gen) — "non-canon" characters means characters who exist in the parent fandom, but are not mentioned in the requested fanwork.
Please include anything you absolutely don't want to receive (Do Not Wants) in the Optional Details field in your AO3 signup. In the event that a DNW is included in your gift, only reasonable DNWs noted in your signup will be enforced.
Optional details may be included in your signup in order to give your gifter further details on your likes and dislikes. This is optional. Dear Creator letters may be linked to in your signup in order to give your gifter further details on your likes and dislikes. These are optional.
If you are unmatchable as a creator (i.e. no one is requesting anything you are willing to create), the mods will contact you when signups close and ask you to add more offers. If you do not reply within 24 hours, your signup will be deleted.
If you are unmatchable as a recipient (i.e. no one is offering anything you are requesting), your requests will be posted to the Dreamwidth community for claiming as a pinch hit.

How to use the character categories

Go to the fancy Airtable base of nominations and check what's in the main relationship/characters field for the fanwork you'd like to request.
All characters in the field, whether they're in a ship or on their own, are the "main characters" mentioned in the "...one or more of the main characters in this fanwork (gen)" tag
If there's a / ship there, then that is the "main pairing" you would be requesting with the "...the main pairing in this fanwork (shipfic)" tag.
If there's only one character named in the main relationships/characters field (or if the relationship is an & relationship) then the fic has no main pairing.
Any character that isn't listed in the main relationships/characters field but who is at least mentioned in the requested fanwork is a minor or background character.
Any ship that isn't mentioned in the main relationships/characters field buy that is at least mentioned in the requested fanwork is a minor or background ship.
Any ship that isn't mentioned at all in the requested fanwork is a non-canon ship.
Any character who isn't mentioned at all in the requested fanwork but is canon to the parent fandom is a non-canon character.
Don't select "I want recursive fanwork about original characters in this fanwork (gen or shipfic)" if you want a gift about original characters that are part of the fanwork you're requesting; only request it if you want your creator to make up all-new original characters for your gift.

Assignments

You are only guaranteed to match on one parent fandom, one fanwork, one medium, and one character category.
You must create a fanwork that recurses one of your recipient's requested fanworks in one of their requested medium. It should focus on the character(s)/relationship indicated by one of their requested character categories.
The fanwork you are recursing should be treated as a requested canon for this exchange.
- Don't write a remix or "your own version" of the requested fanwork.
- Where the requested fanwork's information (worldbuilding, backstory, character eye color, etc) contradicts the parent fandom, you are expected to stick with the requested fanwork's information unless your recipient indicates otherwise.
- Crossovers and setting-change AUs that aren't already part of the requested fanwork are opt-in.
You are expected to respect your recipient's Do Not Wants as stated in their signup on AO3.
Your work must meet the exchange minimums, which are:
- Fic should be at least 1,000 words long. It should also stand alone and not be a continuation of a pre-existing work.
- Art should be a finished piece of drawn art - this may be done by traditional or digital means, but should be original art, inked and/or colored. Art must be an original work created entirely by you. Graphics and manipulations cannot fulfill an art request.
Assignments are secret: do not talk in public about who you're creating for until author reveals (you can of course discuss it with, for example, a beta reader). Do not repost your work elsewhere (e.g. on tumblr) before reveals. Do not link to your tumblr or other personal account in the notes to your work
If you cannot finish your work, find your assignment under "Assignments" on your AO3 dashboard and click on "default". If you want to default, it's better to do it sooner rather than later, because it gives us longer to find a pinch hitter for your assignment. If you default and your creator defaults as well, you will not be assigned a pinch hitter.

Posting & Treats

To fulfill your assignment go to the "My Assignment" link on the exchange sidebar, find the "Fulfill" button, and click it.
Under the "Associations" section of the new work page check the "This work is a remix, a translation, a podfic, or was inspired by another work" box and then link the fanwork you recursed.
- They fixed the bug that used to make this deanon you, so it's safe to use!
- If you are the creator of the recursed fanwork (e.g. you wrote a sequel to your own fic) please still use the related works field during the anon period. You can switch to a series after creator reveals.
Treats must fulfill all assignment requirements except that you can give treats of less than 1,000 words/you can give art treats that are at the sketch stage.
You may treat the collection with recursive works for any fanwork in the tagset.
If you have questions for your assigned recipient or someone you are thinking of treating, email the mods. We will pass questions about their signup on to the recipient without de-anoning you.
If you need to default, go to the "My Assignment" link on the exchange sidebar, find the "Default" button, and click it. If you have defaulted, you will not be sent out to pinch hit if your creator defaults. No-show defaults at the posting deadline will not be able to participate in future rounds of Recursive Exchange until a re-qualifying work is created. (Requalifying works for this round of Recursive Exchange are a 1k fic or artwork for any nominated fanwork in the tagset.)

Glossary of Terms

"Recursive" is a pretty new term, fannishly speaking, and hasn't gotten a lot of discussion. In order to be clear, here is a list of terms and definitions as well as examples.

Canon

As a noun this means the "source, or sources, considered authoritative by the fannish community" (Fanlore article) and as an adjective means something is accurate to the authoritative sources.

Example: Harry Potter is the canon for Harry Potter fics. It's a canon fact that Harry Potter wears glasses.

Fanwork

A fanwork is "a creative work produced by one or more fans, generally intended for other fans" in which some element of the canon "is taken and incorporated into a new creative piece. The taken element can be the characters, world setting, plot, stories, still images, video clips, or something else from the source." (Fanlore article)

Example: A fan named Alice writes a Harry Potter fanfiction called Harry Without Glasses where Harry loses his glasses and fights a Death Eater.

Recursive fanwork

Fanworks are recursive when the canon they are created for is itself also a fanwork. This is most typically applied to writing fanfiction about another fanfiction, but can also apply to drawing fanart of a fic, writing fanfiction based on a vid, etc. (Fanlore article)

Example: Benny reads Alice's Harry Potter fic, Harry Without Glasses, and writes a new fic called Harry Gets His Glasses Back about Harry finding his glasses after the fight.
Example: Carla reads Harry Without Glasses and draws a picture of Harry without glasses fighting the Death Eater.

In the examples above, Benny's fic Harry Gets His Glasses Back and Carla's drawings are both recursive fanworks because they treat Harry Gets His Glasses Back as an authoritative source for their fanworks — in other words, Harry Gets His Glasses Back by Alice is the canon for Benny and Carla's recursive fanworks!

Recursed, "to recurse"

As a verb, this is the act of making a recursive fanfiction As an adjective, it usually refers to a fanwork which has had a recursive fanwork created for it, usually in reference to a specific recursive fanwork.

Example: Benny liked Alice's fic so much he recursed it by writing Harry Gets His Glasses Back. Alice's fic Harry Without Glasses is a recursed fanfiction.
Example: Participants in the Recursive Exchange will nominate fanworks that they want to recurse.

Parent fandom

For the purposes of this exchange, the parent fandom is the fandom a recursed fic is itself a fanwork of.

Example: The parent fandom of Alice's fic Harry Without His Glasses is Harry Potter.

This is kind of another way to say "canon" but comes without the implication of the parent fandom being an authoritative source when one is discussing recursive fic, and makes it possible to talk about tagset organization without tripping all over ourselves.

FAQ

What is the difference between remixing and recursing? Can I create a remix for Recursive Exchange?

Remixing is a fannish practice without one single, widely-agreed upon definition — some people define it very narrowly, others very broadly — but Remix Revival's definition is: "A remix is when you take someone else's fic or art and write/draw it the way you would have." Fanlore's basic definition is this: "a remix is a fanwork that is a re-envisioned version of an earlier fanwork."

By Remix Revival's definition, probably no remix would ever count as recursive. By Fanlore's definition, well, it probably depends on what you take "re-envisioning" to mean.

No matter what your exact, personal definition of remixes is, it's undeniable that remixes are not primarily focused on keeping any particular part of each remixed work. Some remix challenges may have rules about what you have to keep (the pairing, for instance, or "the basic plot") but remixers are free to take and leave any part of the remixed work, with the caveat that the two fics should probably be recognizably related at the end. Remixes created for remix exchanges generally are not gifts — remixing is, in essence, an exercise that's about deciding what part of a fanwork is both essential and interesting, and creating a new work that the remixer feels captures those interesting and essential things. It's about the way the remixer approaches creating the thing, not about what exactly the final product turns out to be.

For Recursive Exchange, you should not approach the work you're going to recurse the way you would approach a work you wanted to remix. Participants in Recursive Exchange are requesting recursive works of the fanworks that they want more of, the way we all generally want more of a canon when we write non-recursive fanworks!*

That being said, most common remix techniques are also perfectly normal fanfiction techniques, so you can definitely write/draw a prequel, sequel, POV swap, for want of a nail fic, a change of the ending, a missing scene, etc. Just treat the requested fanwork like set canon, rather than something to re-envision, and remember that unlike Remix Revival works made for this exchange are gifts, and should be something you think your recip will like. (You don't have to consider what the recursed work's original creator would like, though, unless of course they are also your recip!)

(*Okay, all of us have probably been in or known someone in a fandom where everyone was writing fic because they were like "I could do this canon's concept but BETTER" but that's probably not a vibe we should bring to recursive fic unless it jives with your recip's requests!)

Why can't I nominate specific characters/relationships?

Creating a tagset for all the fanworks we want to recurse is already a lot of work on both the moderator and nomination side of things, not to mention eventually getting everyone a gift! We like matching on characters/relationships in many other exchanges, but we were worried it would be a logistical nightmare.

Can I request my own fanworks?

Yes! Please do! You will still need to provide a permission statement, however.

Can I offer my own fanworks?

Sure! Technically writing a sequel to or AU of your own fic and the like isn't actually making a recursive fanwork, but it will definitely otherwise fulfill requests and that's what matters most. Also if we had a rule against this we would have to enforce it, which sounds terrible.