Guidelines & FAQ

[hetswapmod]

Welcome to HetSwap, a multifandom exchange for het pairings!

Nomination Guidelines

The first period of the exchange is the nomination period, during which anyone interested in participating in the exchange will be able to nominate pairings to the 2018 HetSwap Tag Set. These pairings will be used later in the signup part of the exchange.

Each AO3 user will be able to nominate up to 10 fandoms and 10 relationships per fandom.

1. Nominated relationships must be a het pairing.
2. For the purposes of this exchange, a het pairing is defined as a relationship between two people were one partner is male or genderqueer/non-binary and the other is female or genderqueer/non-binary, but both cannot be genderqueer/non-binary. For example: if A is canonically male, B is canonically female, and C and D are both canonically genderqueer/non-binary, then the only pairing not allowed is C/D.
3. Both characters in the relationship must be sentient and specific. If a character has no specified name, nominate them with a descriptor and which part of canon they appeared in, ie: Comptroller (The Gang Runs for Office)/Dee Reynolds.
4. Relationships must be romantic and/or sexual and nominated with a "/" instead of a "&".
5. Genderswap is not allowed unless nominating a version of canon where the character has always been another gender (ie, non-temporary).
6. Crossover relationships are allowed under the "Crossover Fandom" fandom. Please indicate which fandom both characters are from in parentheses. For example: Stiles Stilinski (Teen Wolf)/Pepper Potts (MCU).
7. Original relationships are allowed under the "Original Work" fandom. Please include a descriptor of the gender of both people in the pairing. For example: Empress/Male City Guard, Non-binary Warlock/Female Skydiver, Trans Female Sugar Baby/Male Sugar Daddy, Male Forest Spirit/Female Demon.
8. You may nominate original characters shipped with canon characters. For example: Eleanor Shellstrop/Original Male Character, Luke Skywalker/Original Non-Binary Character.
9. You may nominate the reader as a character. For example: Sans/Female Reader.
10. Incest, dark, and underage ships are allowed.
11. RPF is allowed, however both halves of the relationship must be over 18 and famous in their own right.

The nomination period of this exchange will last from Wednesday, January 24 @12:01AM to Saturday, February 3 @11:59PM.

Signup Guidelines

The signup period of this exchange is from Monday, February 5 @12:01AM to Monday, February 12 @11:59PM. Once signups open, you'll be able to select tags from the tag set to request and offer.

1. You may request a minimum of 3 fandoms and a maximum of 10 fandoms, and a minimum of 1 relationship and a maximum of 10 relationships per fandom. By selecting "Any Relationship," you indicate that you are willing to receive a work focusing on any relationship nominated under that fandom.
2. Both the "Dear Author Letter" and the "Optional Details" fields are optional but recommended if you'd like to let your gifter know your likes and dislikes. Any Do Not Wants should go in the Optional Details section.
3. You may offer to write in a minimum of 3 fandoms and a maximum of 10 fandoms, and a minimum of 1 relationship and a maximum of 10 relationships per fandom.

Rules

Assignments will be sent out by Wednesday, February 14 @11:59PM and will be due by Monday, April 2 @11:59PM. If you are unable to complete your assignment by the deadline, please default as early as possible by selecting that option in the "Assignments" tab of your personal AO3 dashboard.

1. In order to satisfy the requirements of this exchange, you must create one work of fiction that focuses one of your recipient's requested pairings. It does not have to be the pairing you matched on.
2. Your story must be at least 1,000 words long, complete, and not a part of a previously posted series.
3. Your story must center around one of your recipient's requested pairings. The pairing you write must be M/F, M/non-binary of genderqueer person, or F/non-binary or genderqueer person.
4. Your story must avoid any Do Not Wants (DNWs) that your giftee has listed in their signup.
5. You are encouraged but not required to use any prompts listed in your recipient's letter or optional details field.
6. Submissions may be any rating.

You will be able to edit your submission until works are revealed on Monday, April 9 @8PM. All works will be anonymous until creators revealed on Monday, April 16 @8PM.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are treats? Are treats allowed?
Yes! If you're inspired by a requested ship/prompt, feel free to create an additional gift for the requester as a treat. You can create a treat for your own recipient or anyone else in the exchange. You don't need to have signed up for the exchange in order to create a treat and add it to the collection. Treats must be posted to the collection before creators are revealed on April 16th.

What are pinch hits? How will they be posted?
If someone defaults on their assignment, that assignment will be posted to the Dreamwidth community as a pinch hit. Anyone willing to fill that assignment will be able to comment on the post to claim the assignments. Pinch hits are first come, first serve.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to comment below or email me at hetswapex@gmail.com.

Comments

[yeomanrand]

Quick question:

Genderswap is not allowed unless nominating a version of canon where the character has always been another gender.

Where would a character like MCU!Loki, who has been shown to be a shapeshifter, fall? He has never in the canon shifted to a woman but there is nothing in canon that said he couldn't.

Thanks!

[hetswapmod]

Sorry, that wouldn't fall under the rules! The genderswap rule is more for something like canonically fem!Tony Stark in Earth-3490 or if a TV show has an episode where the characters meet their alternate dimension selves who are another gender.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

Oh, that means that Melissa/Curtis in Misfits fandom wouldn't be an eligible pairing either, correct? :(

[hetswapmod]

I haven't watched the show, but as I understand it from the wiki, Curtis is able to change his gender at will to become Melissa. Melissa/Curtis isn't eligible because I wouldn't consider them as two separate characters, but if Curtis is canonically gender-questioning/genderqueer, you can nominate him paired with other male or female characters if you'd like. Or if he sees himself as male in canon, he can be nominated with female or genderqueer characters.

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, I won't nominate the ship.

[thatonefic]

I'm preemptively explaining my nomination!

I'm nominating 'Want You To Say - PLAYBACK (Song)' with the ship 'Female Narrator/Narrator's Younger Male Crush' as either from one of the specific girls to the boy she likes OR the lyrics as a whole. Both are pretty straightforwardly about an older girl crushing on and encouraging a younger guy who has, so far, been too nervous or shy to pursue them. That's okay, right?

[hetswapmod]

That sounds fine! Go ahead and nominate.

[thatonefic]

Hooray! Thank you!