Goreswap Exchange

Assignments are out! Have fun creating, everyone!

Assignments are due April 12th, at 11:59 PM EDT. They must be at least 500 words or a nice sketch on unlined paper, with significant gore content, and respect your recipient's reasonable DNWs. Remember to stay anonymous until creators are revealed on May 1st! Do not contact your recipient directly. If you need to ask a clarifying question, or have any other problems, please contact me at shimmeringwords@gmail.com, and I will pass the question on anonymously or otherwise assist you.

Sign ups are open for twenty-four more hours! View instructions here, and sign up here.

Nominations are now closed, and I have finished going through the tagset. I have queries for a limited number of nominations, listed below. After twenty-four hours, I will either correct or reject them as noted below. Please also let me know if I have changed your tag in a way you feel changes its meaning (and which is not covered by the nominations post or rules).

( Buckshot Roulette )

( Doctor Who 2005 )

( Iron Lung (2026) )

( Kraven the Hunter (2024) )

( Doctor Who )

Aside from that, tag cleanup is ongoing! You can help me by commenting if you spot any mistakes, duplicate tags, or tags in your fandom that shouldn't be.

Nominations are now open! You can find the tagset here, and instructions below.

Nominating is how the fandoms, relationships and characters you can offer and request in the exchange are chosen. You can nominate up to ten fandoms, and up to twenty relationships per fandom by filling out the form here (or click 'nominate' at the top right of the tagset). All eligible, correctly formatted nominations will be approved.

Formatting Guidelines:

If your fandom has an existing AO3 tag, please enter that tag. If not, make up a tag that matches AO3's formatting. See below for instructions for specific franchises.

Individual character nominations should be nominated in the form "Char: X." These nominations are for works featuring at least the requested character, not necessarily that character alone. Romantic and sexual relationships should be nominated in the form X/Y. Platonic relationships should be nominated in the form X & Y. You may also nominate larger groups, such as X/Y & A/B for a work which features all four characters together in two relationships, A & B & C for all three characters featured in platonic relationships, X/Y/Z for a threesome, etc.

Original characters may be nominated, by themselves or in relationships with canon characters. All details that aren't included in the tag are up to the creator's discretion. For example, Harry Potter/Original Female Slytherin would require a work featuring Harry Potter in a romantic or sexual relationship with a female Slytherin OC, whereas Harry Potter/Original Slytherin would allow the creator to choose the original character's gender. Creator's Choice of Fandom and Original Work relationships should also include all important details in the tag.

Please do not nominate ambiguous groups such as "Harry Potter & Slytherins." Instead, you may nominate "Harry Potter & Any Slytherin," or "Harry Potter & Any Slytherin(s)." This is to avoid ambiguity as to which specific characters must be included. I will generally correct this type of nomination without querying.

Crossover pairings should be nominated in the formatting X (Fandom)/Y (Fandom). Disambiguation (putting the fandom after the character names) is optional for other fandoms.

Eligibility Guidelines

In general, all fandoms are eligible (but see the main rules post for RPF-related exceptions). You may nominate fanworks if the creator gives permission for transformative/recursive works. Please send me either a link to a public statement or evidence of a nonpublic one before or when you nominate fanworks.

Without getting into existential issues, characters should unambiguously be some combination of alive, self-aware, and/or distinct individuals in canon. Animals, ghosts, and eldritch abominations are eligible, but non-sentient settings and objects generally aren’t. Specific “versions” of characters are eligible only if they are so distinct as to be a different character (e.g., Wishverse!Buffy is a separate character with a different backstory and personality. Vampire!Willow is likewise a demonic entity and comes from a divergent timeline. Evil!Willow is not eligible as a separate character, as she is her usual self from the main timeline of the show in the midst of an emotional crisis.) AU versions of characters which do not exist in canon, such as genderbend AUs which are not canon, should be included in your optional details rather than nominations.

Franchise Guidelines:

Star Wars should be nominated by the specific Star Wars property or trilogy, e.g., Star Wars Prequel Trilogy - Anakin Skywalker/Obi-Wan Kenobi or Star Wars Legends: New Jedi Order - Char: Ben Solo. I will query Star Wars nominations which do not give a specific property, and either make my best guess or reject at the end of the nominations period if I don't receive an answer.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and any related fandoms should be nominated under Buffyverse.

MCU movies should be nominated under MCU. TV shows should be nominated by the specific show.

Fire Emblem games should be separated into individual games.

Doctor Who should be nominated under the specific series or property.

Zelda fandom should be split up by specific property.

If you have preferences for how an additional franchise fandom is nominated, please comment!

Creators are revealed, and with that, goreswap 2025 is concluded! Thank you, everyone, for another great round!

Works are revealed! Go and browse the collection!

Creators, please remain anonymous until creator reveals in one week. Everyone, remember that commenting on your gifts before signing up for the next round is mandatory, unless you have received a DNW/incomplete work, something else that resulted in a pinch hit, or otherwise confirmed an exception with me.

The following post-deadline pinch hits are due on March 20, at 11:59 PM EDT. Assignments must be at least 500 words or a sketch on unlined paper, and must include significant gore content. To claim an assignment, please comment on this post or email me at shimmeringwords@gmail.com with the assignment you want and your AO3 name. Comments are screened. If you post an anonymous comment, I won't be able to reply to it.

Note (3/17): Pinch Hit #3 has been updated to add art to all requests.

( Pinch Hit #3: Art, Fic - 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 镇魂 | Guardian - priest, The Walking Dead (TV), Bunny - Mona Awad, Yellowjackets (TV) )

( Pinch Hit #14: Fic, Art - The Old Guard (Movie 2020), Baldur's Gate (Video Games), Simon Feximal Series - K. J. Charles )

The deadline is passed! There are currently no post-deadline pinch hits. A number of extensions have been granted, so don't panic if you don't have a gift, and stay tuned for future pinch hits. Thank you to everyone who turned in their work or asked for an extension on time!

The following pinch hit is due in one week, on March 13 at 11:59 PM EDT. Assignments must be at least 500 words or a sketch on unlined paper, and must include significant gore content. To claim an assignment, please comment on this post or email me at shimmeringwords@gmail.com with the assignment you want and your AO3 name. Comments are screened. If you post an anonymous comment, I won't be able to reply to it.

( Pinch Hit #13: Fic - Sleep Token (Band), Devil May Cry (Gameverse), The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir )