Rules & Notes & Sticky 2026

[isabrella]

The Completely Arbitrary Sunset Exchange is a femslash+ exchange that I and my best friend are hosting because we want to (and we think Sunset is cool!).

Sunset is "a website established in 2025 dedicated to hosting F/F, NB/F and NB/NB fanworks. It holds pro-freedom of fiction, queer and trans inclusive, anti-bigotry and generally compassionate ideals." 

This is meant to be a low-pressure, inclusive event with a low barrier to entry - we want people to sign up to Sunset and create a little something for someone else! We want this to be laidback for you the participants and us the mods so please behave sensibly and respectfully. 

All fandoms and all canon or non-canon pairings are permitted. All mediums are permitted - writing (300 word minimum) and art are common ones, but we also encourage vids (30 sec minimum), mixes, icon packs, gifsets, etc. We are not doing medium matching, so by signing up you may receive a gift of any kind. 

Timeline:
Nominations: April 6 - 11 2026 (New York time; countdown)
Sign ups: April 14 - 19 2026 (New York time; countdown)
Assignments out by: April 26 2026
Deadline: May 24 2026 (New York time; countdown)
Reveals (works & creators): May 31 2026

Tumblr | Sunset collection | Tag set

As it is hosted on Sunset, Sunset's content policies apply: 

• All members of Sunset must be 18+.
• All works posted to Sunset must be F/F, NB/F, or NB/NB.
• Gender/cisswaps of M/F, M/M, or M/NB are permitted, please use the freeform tag "Canon Gender Swap" and tag the character in the tagset with F!Character name.
• No explicit RPF (real person fiction) about real people, alive or not, under the age of 18 at present or in the work; or any visual artistic depictions of characters under the age of 14 that appear hyperrealistic or could be mistaken as real.

We also have some further rules:

• No AI-generated content.
• All gifts must be of a quality that would make you happy to receive the gift. 
• Fic minimum: 300 words
• Art must be polished.
• Vids must be a minimum length of 30 seconds with no gaps.
• Any other format you can think of is permitted as long as you would be satisfied with it as a gift!
• Please don't talk about the specifics of your assignment in public until works are revealed. We'd like it to be a surprise for everyone.
• Gifts must be complete and can't be part of a previously posted series.
• Be respectful. Please realize that everyone has different likes/interests/squicks.

By signing up, you are planning to create something for someone else - please try to ensure you have the time/energy/resources to do so before signing up, as it makes it harder when people drop out. That being said, if you discover after signing up that you can't finish in time, please use the Default button on your Assignment to withdraw as soon as possible.

If you have never signed up for an exchange before, there are some useful resources on the Femslash Exchange Dreamwidth and in the AO3 FAQs (just substitute "Sunset" for "AO3" and drop any questions on this post).

Nominations

Before signups, during the nomination period, you can nominate fandoms and relationships that you would like included in the exchange at the tag set. Each person can nominate up to 5 fandoms, with up to 3 relationships in each fandom. Please only nominate fandoms/relationships that you plan to offer or request.

• We are not including Original Work or Creators' Choice of Fandom tags to keep it simple (we are running our first exchange!).
• Original Female or Non-binary Characters can be nominated with an existing character.
• Crossovers are permitted, please nominate under Crossover Fandom.

Sign ups

• You may request 3-5 fandoms with up to 5 relationships each (these must be unique fandoms). 
• You must offer 5-8 fandoms with up to 10 relationships in each (these must be unique fandoms), or choose to offer "Any" relationship in the tagset within a particular fandom.
  

You will be matched on at least one fandom and relationship. If you do not have at least one potential match, you will be asked to change or add offers to your sign-up.

You can fill in the sign-up form with prompts, likes/dislikes, rating restrictions/requests, and Do Not Wants (DNWs), as well as linking to an external letter if you like. 

If you are prompting, keep in mind that fic prompts don't always translate to art/vids/etc.! Info about creating good art prompts.

Do Not Wants must be respected by your creator if included in your sign-up, but these cannot be used to lock your creator into one type of creation. Do Not Wants are things you do not want to see in your gift, for example a kink that squicks you, a theme or topic that you dislike, a TV show you don’t want to be mentioned, etc. 

More information about letter-writing.

Please operate in the spirit of trying to make something your recip will like rather than rules lawyering DNWs.

Pinch Hits

In the event we have issues matching someone, they will go out as a pinch hit right away via a post on this Dreamwidth (which is shared to our Tumblr), so that someone else can create for them. Similarly, if someone defaults, their recip will go to pinch hits so someone else can create for them. If you default and are defaulted on in turn, you are not guaranteed a gift. 

We will make sure everyone has a gift before reveals.

Editing is allowed before work reveals, but the work must be in a reveals ready state at all times (including a working title, no missing chapters, or [missing scene] notes.) 

If you are having difficulty defaulting via your assignment page please contact us by commenting on this post (comments screened). 

Treats

Treats of any length and medium may be posted to the collection at any time! Treats are welcome to be added to the collection without a recipient if they fit the theme. 

If you wish to receive treats, you need to turn these on by going to Preferences as they are turned off by default when you create an account. 

Please drop a comment (screened) if you need an invite link. 

The mods of this event are not the founders or maintainers of Sunset!

These rules liberally adapted from Femslash Exchange.