Schedule

[agexmod]

Nominations: January 14th - 21st 22nd
Signups: January 25th - February 4th January 26th - February 5th
Assignments out by no later than: February 11th
Assignments due by: March 24th
Works revealed: March 31st
Creators revealed: April 6th

All times are 3PM UTC.

(no subject)

[agexmod]

Family emergency prevented me from sorting out queries/questions before this, but I'm working on making sure the tagset's fine right now, and nominations should be open in a bit. Sorry for the delay!

Rules & FAQs

[agexmod]

Rules

• You must give a gift that includes at least one of the recipients' requested fandoms and relationships, in (at least one of) the medium(s) the recipient has requested, and which does not involve any of the Do Not Wants (DNWs) in the recipient's signup. The gift must be either at least 1000 words long (for fic) or be clean lineart with basic colouring (for art).
• All nominated relationships must have an age gap of at least seven years, follow the 'half your age plus seven' rule, or otherwise be a significant age gap (as expanded upon in the FAQs.)
• For modern RPF, there are two rules:
  1. Non-famous relatives/friends cannot be nominated.
  2. All 'characters' nominated must be currently over 18.
• Mod reserves the right to reject nominations not in good taste (serial killer RPF, IRL rapist/IRL victim RPF etcetera).
• Please don't reveal that you're the creator of the gift(s) you've given until the anon period

Frequently Asked Questions

Please note that step-by-step instructions for nominations/signups etc will be provided when nominations/signups etc open.

So, what is the Age Gap Exchange?
It is, as the name suggests, and exchange for relationships with age gaps!

What do you mean by age gaps? What ships qualify?
For the purpose of this exchange, here must be a seven year gap between the two characters (or at least two of the characters, in the case of poly relationships), or the age gap must be greater than the half your age plus seven rule (in general, when the older party's age is divided by two and seven is added to that number, for the purpose of the exchange, the final answer must be greater than or equal to the younger party's age). i.e.: either the age gap must be seven years or greater or (the older character's age/2)+7 must be greater than or equal to the younger character's age. Here is an online calculator (though for this exchange, relationships within the range given aren't allowed).

What if it's a mortal/immortal relationship? What if the characters aren't human? What if it's an edgecase for any other reason?
Mortal/immortal relationships are fine. If the characters aren't human (i.e. they age differently from humans) or you feel that the rule may otherwise not apply, please use your best judgement. I'll put an evidence post up, but in most cases I will accept that relationships have been nominated in good faith.

What about if the character's age isn't stated in canon?
Please use your best judgement.

Is this only for / relationships or are & relationships also allowed?
It's only for / relationships, sorry.

You say you're accepting nominations on good faith, but what if someone takes advantage of that?
If there's genuine rule-flouting (eg: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes or Leia Organa/Luke Skywalker), please bring it up with me in the disputes post (including evidence of rule-breaking) and I'll deal with it. Please note that any issues must be brought up before sign-ups open.

How many fandoms and relationships can I nominate?
You can nominate 5 fandoms, with 8 relationships allowed per fandom.

Are Original Works allowed?
Yes. However, the presence of an age gap should be clearly stated in the nominations. (Eg: Middle Aged Spy/Teenaged Crime Lord or Immortal Swordswoman/Young Crown Princess or Monster Older Than Time/Monster Born With The First Human. You can be specific or vague as you like as long as the presence of an age gap is obvious in the nominations.)

Are crossover relationships allowed?
Yes. However, please nominate in the format Character One (Fandom One)/Character Two (Fandom Two)(/and so on). In addition, in instances where the age gap isn't clear, please be specific. (Eg: Leia Organa (Star Wars OT)/Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter) is fine; Leia Organa (Star Wars)/Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter) isn't. )

Is historical RPF allowed?
Yes!

Is underage allowed?
Yes. However, for RPF only, all nominated 'characters' must be currently over 18.

How many fandoms and relationships can I request?
You can request between 3 and 10 fandoms, and between 1 and 20 relationships per fandom. (You can also request 'Any Relationship' if you like. Please note that this means any relationship in the tagset, not any relationship ever.)

How many fandoms and relationships can I offer?
You can offer between 4 and 10 fandoms, and between 1 and 20 relationships per fandom. (You can also request 'Any Relationship' if you like. Please note that this means any relationship in the tagset, not any relationship ever.)

Will there be any expectation that the age gap be acknowledged in the fic itself?
No; if you want it to be acknowledge please mention this in your signup.

Will be able to include in our requests that characters be aged up to 18+ as long as the seven or more year gap still applies? (Example: In canon character A is 15 and character B is 22. Can I request that A be aged up to 18, as long as they also age B up to 25?)
If you want to request the characters being aged up, you can. (However, please do be aware that any sort of request like this is going to be treated as an optional detail which your creator won't be bound to.)

How will assignments be matched?
You will be matched on a minimum of one fandom and one relationship and one medium within that fandom.

Should I write a letter/fill in the 'Optional Details' section?
Writing a letter/filling in the optional details section isn't mandatory. However, I recommend that you include at least your strongest DNWs in the optional details section. That being said, providing prompts/likes etc. will give your author/artist a better idea of what you want (though they aren't obligated to follow those prompts), so at least a few sentences on what you like might be a good idea. If you write a letter, please do remember to enter the URL of the letter in the section reserved for that in the signup. You can also link your letter in the letters post if you wish to.

What are DNWs?
DNWs, or Do Not Wants, are things the recipient absolutely does not want in their gift. DNWs stated in the signup must be respected. Please note, however, that extremely restrictive DNWs or DNWs such as 'age gaps' will result in the mod contacting you with a request to change this.

Are treats allowed?
Yes!

What are treats?
They're extra gifts you can give people in addition to your main assignments.

Do you need to be signed up to treat someone?
No!

What are the minimum requirements for treats?
There aren't any. (However, DNWs should still be respected, as should requested relationships/medium(s)/fandoms.)

Is there a separate collection for treats?
No. Treats go in the main collection.

Help, I need more time!
Please contact me at least 12 hours before the deadline if you need an extension. I cannot give extensions that are closer than 72 hours to the time of reveals.

I can't finish my assignment.
Please default as soon as possible if this is the case. There are no penalties for defaulting this round.

Evidence Post

[agexmod]

If you believe that the relationships you nominate are eligible for the exchange but they don't clearly fulfill the rules, please leave a comment here, using the following format. (If you're requesting multiple relationships which may have this issue, please use the form multiple times.)

(Please also check the FAQs before commenting here.)

<b>Nominated fandom:</b><br /><b>Nominated relationship:</b><br /><b>Reason(s) you believe the relationship is eligible, with links to evidence if necessary:</b>

Disputes Post

[agexmod]

I'm going to be accepting nominations in good faith for this exchange. However, if you feel that a nominated pairing is in violation of the rules, please leave a public comment on this post. I will not accept disputes via any other form of communication. Please use the following format to dispute nominations.

I will not be dealing with disputed nominations until nominations close.

<b>Nominated fandom:</b><br /><b>Nominated relationship:</b><br /><b>Reason(s) you believe the relationship is <u>not</u> eligible, with links to evidence if necessary:</b>

Nominations Are Open!

[agexmod]

Nominations are open! Apologies for the hiccups in the planning stage due to personal issues.

Nomination rules/requirements:

• You can nominate 5 fandoms, with 8 relationships per fandom. All relationships must be / relationships.
• Please nominate crossover relationships under 'Crossover Fandom'. Ignore the AO3 instructions on crossovers.
• All nominated relationships must have an age gap of at least seven years, follow the 'half your age plus seven' rule, or otherwise be a significant age gap (as expanded upon in the FAQs)
• If you think your nomination isn't a clear-cut case and requires further elaboration, please comment in the evidence post. However, I will be accepting nominations on good faith. Please leave a public comment on the disputes post if you wish to dispute the eligibility of an already-accepted nomination.
• Keep an eye on the comm for clarification posts.

How to nominate:

1. Go to the nominations form (which is linked at the end of this post).
2. On the upper right-hand corner of the screen there should be a grey button called 'nominate'. Click that button.
3. The nomination form will appear. It will have five slots for fandoms, with eight relationships under each fandom. (Please note that you can't nominate the same fandom twice.)
4. Click the submit button at the bottom of the page.
5. Your nominations will be displayed. Please note that I may not be able to approve them as they appear; it may take some time for your nominations to be displayed in the main tagset.

If there are any issues with nominations, please leave a comment on this post or email me at agegapexchange@gmail.com, including a link to your nominations form.

There is a promo post on Tumblr if you want to spread the word.

And finally: go forth and nominate!