2024 Schedule + Rules

[amperslashexchange]

Amperslash Exchange is a fic and art exchange for ambiguous relationships that are hard to definitively classify as either platonic (&) or romantic/sexual (/).


Nominations Open: September 28, 12:01 AM
Nominations Close: October 5, 11:59 PM
Signups Open: October 8, 12:01 AM
Signups Close: October 15, 11:59 PM
Assignments Out By: October 17, 11:59 PM
Works Due: December 4, 11:59 PM
Collection Revealed: December 11, 11:59 PM
Creators Revealed: December 18, 11:59 PM

All times are in UTC.

AO3 Collection
Tagset

If you need to contact the mod, you can reach me via modmultiplicity at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. Anon comments are enabled.

Scope of the Exchange

Amperslash takes a wide and inclusive view of ambiguous relationships.

Maybe the characters have an incredibly intense and significant relationship that's technically platonic but feels like it could tip over into romance at any time. Maybe you like it when a work doesn't make it clear whether the characters are attracted to each other or not, or whether they're aware of the attraction or not. Maybe you want incest smarm where everyone is clinging desperately to plausible deniability about whether they've officially crossed into taboo territory. Maybe the appeal is extreme situations where characters are just cuddling (or more) for comfort and not bothering to define their relationship. Maybe it's dirtybadwrong boundary-blurring with someone deliberately muddling someone else's idea of what counts as sexual contact. Maybe the characters are happy platonic life partners who are fine with a relationship they don't consider to be romantic, even if other people tend to think it is. Maybe they're just in denial, and you want to luxuriate in it.

Any and all of these takes--or anything else that you feel could be tagged with either &, /, or both--are welcome.



Nominations

All fandoms are allowed, including RPF, as long as all real people nominated are famous in their own right and over the age of 18. The mod will veto RPF nominations for Donald Trump, people who are famous for willing participation in genocidal regimes, or serial killers alive after 1900; I also reserve the right to veto any RPF nominations where the figures are primarily associated with atrocities.

You can nominate up to 10 fandoms, with a maximum of 10 relationships per fandom. Because this exchange centers on relationships with some degree of ambiguity, please nominate all relationships as "Character A and Character B," spelling out the "and."

You can nominate ensemble relationships or relationships between characters and general groups--for example, Spock and USS Enterprise Crew or The Party (Stranger Things)--but keep in mind that any ensembles you don't break down into individual characters will basically be treated as "two or more members of [x] group."

If you have room, please disambiguate your nominations by putting the fandom name or an abbreviation for it in parentheses at the end of the tag.

Nomination Format for Specific Fandoms

Crossovers Relationships: Nominate crossover relationships under Crossover Fandom.

Original Works: Nominate original ships under the fandom Original Work; if the gender of the original characters matters to you, make sure to specify it in the tag.

Dragon Age: Please nominate as "Dragon Age (Video Games)."

Doctor Who and Related Fandoms: Please break down nominations by subfandom: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio), The Sarah Jane Adventures, novel series, etc. Entries in Big Finish Unbound should also be nominated individually.

Fire Emblem: Please nominate Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes as two separate fandoms.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Please nominate characters who appear primarily in the movies under their movie franchise subheading, such as Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel Netflix shows should be nominated under Defenders (TV). Nominate any other shows (Agent Carter, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, etc.) individually. Crossover nominations with characters from separate MCU fandoms should go under Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel and DCU Comics: Please nominate main continuity into Marvel (Comics) and DCU (Comics), putting specific runs into the parentheses instead of the fandom for these nominations only. Titles that are explicit alternate realities such as Age of Apocalypse, Marvel 1602 etc. can be nominated as specific titles.

Star Wars: Nominate under the appropriate movie, trilogy, TV show, etc (e.g., Rogue One, Andor, Original Trilogy). Crossover nominations with characters from separate Star Wars fandoms should go under Star Wars - All Media Types.

Star Wars Old EU: Nominate books under "Star Wars: Legends Books" and disambiguated with (SWL Books). Nominate comics as fandom "Star Wars: Legends Comics" and disambiguated with (SWL Comics). Nominate games as individual fandoms

Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel: Nominate both shows under Buffyverse (TV).

Naruto, Boruto, and Dreaming of Sunshine: should be nominated separately. Please nominate Dreaming of Sunshine as "Dreaming of Sunshine (Fanfic Disambiguation)". Relationship nominations that involve one or more DoS character and one or more Naruto/Boruto character should be nominated under the fandom "Crossover Fandom".

Star Trek: Divide nominations by show and movie franchise--for example, nominate Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Original Series (Movies) separately. Strange New Worlds, DS9, Lower Decks, Picard, Alternate Original Series, etc. should all be nominated individually, as should any tie-in novels/comics series. Nominate crossover relationships between different Trek canons via Crossover Fandom.

DC's Arrowverse: Please nominate characters from Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Superman & Lois, and Black Lightning (plus the webseries tie-ins) under "DC's Arrowverse."

Stargate: Please nominate under "Stargate - All Media Types"

X-Men Movies: Please nominate for both Original Timeline Movies and Alternate Timeline Movies under "X-Men (Movieverse)," and disambiguate for the timelines. The other X-Men movies, like Deadpool, should be nominated under their own series/movie title.

DC Extended Universe: DCEU movies should be nominated under "DC Extended Universe."

Assassin's Creed: Please nominate Assassin's Creed under "Assassin's Creed - All Media Types."

Legend of Zelda: Please nominate these in their separate games.

The Witcher: Please nominate these in their individual fandoms, not AMT.

Historical RPF: Please split these into subfandoms that indicates what time period the nominated people are in. If there may be confusion about the identity of a nominated person, please be as specific as is reasonable.

Signups

You must be 18 or older to sign up.

You may request 1-10 fandoms, each with 1-10 ambiguous relationships and at least one medium (Fanart, Fanfic, or both). You can also request Any, which means you are requesting gifts for any of the nominated relationships for that fandom.

You can offer 1-10 fandoms, each with 1-10 ambiguous relationships. You can also offer Any, meaning you're willing to create a gift for any nominated relationship in that fandom.

In your additional details, make sure to include any DNWs. These are things you Do Not Want, i.e., things that would ruin a gift for you and which your creator must avoid. Please phrase your DNWs in a clear and neutral way.

You can also use the additional details box to list likes, prompts, and anything else that might help your creator make a gift you will enjoy--for example, what you tend to like in the portrayal of your requested ambiguous relationship(s). You can also provide a link to a letter posted on your Dreamwidth, Tumblr, etc.

You are only guaranteed a gift if you request at least three distinct fandoms. If you've requested fewer than three fandoms and you are a pinch hit at the time works are due, I'll contact you about potentially adding more fandoms. If you prefer not to add more fandoms, you'll still stay up as an available pinch hit, but you are not guaranteed a gift.

The collection will not open until everyone who has requested at least three distinct fandoms has a gift.

If you shame or harass other participants, or if there are signs that you have deliberately caused problems in multiple exchanges, you will be banned. If this happens during signups, the mod will delete your signup.

Matching

If none of your offers match any requests at the time signups close, I'll contact you, and you'll have 24 hours to add relevant offers. If that time elapses, or if you choose not to add any offers, I'll delete your signup.

If no one is offering anything you're requesting, you'll go out as a pinch hit and someone can claim the chance to create for you.

Assignments

Assignments are only guaranteed to match on one fandom, one relationship, and one medium.

Minimum work requirements are one fic of 1000 words or one piece of original art that is not on lined paper. (Manips are okay for treats, but they do not fulfill your assignment.) The fic or art must match a medium, fandom, and relationship requested by your recipient.

You may tag your works as &, /, both, or neither, depending on your preference.

Works should remain anonymous during the collection's anonymous period. Do not post your work elsewhere, link to it under your name, or put your name anywhere on the AO3 page until after creators have been revealed. Artists may sign their work.

If you can't finish your assignment, please default by going to your AO3 assignments page and clicking the "default" button on your assignment. You don't have to contact the mod or explain why you've defaulted. Life happens! If you default, you may still get a gift, but you won't go out as a pinch hit if your creator also defaults.

Treats

There are no work minimums for treats. Treats can be posted to the collection without a listed recipient.

If your AO3 account was created after February 1, 2022 and you would like to receive treats, please make sure your account is set up to allow additional gifts: Go to Preferences and click "Allow anyone to gift me works."

I encourage people who do not want treats, and who have not enabled their account to be open to treats, to specifically mention that in their additional details.

Pinch Hits

Pinch hits will be posted here, on the Dreamwidth community. Comments on the pinch hit posts will be screened, so if you want to claim a pinch hit, please reply to that post and state both your AO3 pseud and which pinch hit you would like to claim. Anonymous comments are enabled, so you don't need a Dreamwidth account to claim a pinch hit. You also don't need to be signed up for the exchange; all you need is an AO3 account.

Comments

[flowersforgraves]

Are works focused on nonromantic sexual relationships within the scope of this event?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi! Do one-sided relationships count? Like, if one character clearly wants a romantic relationship or perceives the relationship to be romantic, but it’s platonic to the second character.

[(Anonymous)]

How do you feel about piping in relationship nominations? Go ahead or avoid?

[runespoor]

Hi, sorry to bother you - are the nominations for 2024 over? Thank you for running the exchange!

[(Anonymous)]

For fandoms with different original and localised character names, should we still nominate piped names if we would DNW one of the names, or would you prefer we nominate the name we would want to request/offer?