Nominations are open (a bit early!)

[fgemods]

Nominations are now open here! Each person can nominate up to 20 fandoms, with up to 20 relationships/characters each.

Nominations will close July 18th at 11:55 PM UTC. Countdown | What time is that for me?

Two rules (#7 and #8) have been added to clarify how specific nominations should be for unnamed characters. We used them as guidelines during last year's nominations but did not properly define them in the rules. Please let us know if you have questions.

Qualifications:

1. A fandom qualifies for the exchange if it has no more than 10 complete, English-language fics OR no more than 5 contributing authors on AO3.
   
   • Crossover fics do not count against the fandom.
2. A relationship qualifies for the exchange if it has no more than 10 complete, English-language fics OR no more than 5 contributing authors on AO3.
   • A fic only counts against the relationship if it's the main relationship of the fic.
   • You can nominate both gen and romantic relationships. To nominate gen relationships use &. To nominate romantic relationships use /.
   • Threesomes (or moresomes) are also welcome.
   • Tags including both & and / relationships (i.e. Alice/Bob & Carol) will not be accepted.
3. A character qualifies for the exchange if they have no more than 10 complete, English-language fics OR no more than 5 contributing authors on AO3.
   • A fic only counts against the character if they are a main character in the fic.
   • If you want to nominate or sign up for a single character, you can do so through the relationship tag 'Character & None'. This will make matching on characters or relationships possible.
4. Crossover relationships cannot be nominated. Crossover relationships contribute less to an individual fandom's growth, which is the point of the exchange.
   
   • This means that both characters must appear in the canon. Therefore, a relationship might qualify for a general fandom but not for a subfandom.
5. You can nominate a relationship or character under a general fandom (e.g. Marvel Cinematic Universe) or subfandom (e.g. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), but the relationship or character must qualify under the fandom you nominate it.
   • This means a relationship nominated under Marvel Cinematic Universe might not qualify, but that same relationship nominated under Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. could.
6. Relationships with original characters cannot be nominated. Original characters also cannot be nominated.
   • Mentioned and implied characters are allowed, so long as you prove they are mentioned/implied in canon. Implied characters are characters that exist, but are not individually named/seen/referenced (e.g. the Minbari before Valen in Babylon 5; the Bothans in Star Wars: Episode VI; Lily Evans's grandparents in Harry Potter).
7. Nominations that could apply to several characters (e.g. Jane & Any Vampire) are not permitted. Nominations must be specific as possible.
   • e.g. if there is only one unnamed male imperial soldier in all of canon, "Jane/Male Imperial Soldier" will be permitted. But if there are several male imperial soldiers in the canon, "Jane/Male Imperial Soldier" will be rejected.
8. Groups are only permitted if it is 1) a specific, defined group, and 2) the characters aren’t all named.
   • e.g. “Jane/Chess Team” would be permitted because the chess team is a defined group. However, if canon establishes that the chess team is made up of Ann, Bob, and Carl, then the tag “Jane/Ann/Bob/Carl” would be used instead. Exceptions may be made if the tag becomes unwieldy.