A new '90s TV fanfic exchange

[brightknightie]

I just learned from senmut's post that there is a 90s_channel_tv_exchange! It looks like perhaps the latest successor to myoldfandom and retrotvexchange...?

Here's how 90s_channel_tv_exchange describes itself:

Timeline:

• Nominations: 25 Jan - 01 Feb
• Sign-ups: 03 Feb - 10 Feb
• Due: 21 May
• Reveals: 28 May

Requirements:

• Minimum 1K words or equivalent art
• Live-action or cartoon fiction TV series that aired at least 1 new episode in any country in the '90s, or were dubbed into English for the first time in the '90s
• Matching is "or" on one medium (art or fic), one fandom, and one relationship field tag
• Nominate 1-4 fandoms and 1-5 single characters or relationship groups per fandom
• "You may request the same fandom multiple times, but a gift is guaranteed only if your requests and offers each have 3 unique fandoms." See the rules for anthology shows and crossovers.
• "Requests are 3-10 fandoms with 1-10 character tags, and Offers are 4-10 offers and 1-10 relationship field tags."

I don't understand this "relationship field tags" system and feel like I'd end up assigned a romance that I can't write, so I'm thinking I won't play, but I will look at the nominations and consider!

Some eligible series: FK, HL, BaTB, TNG, DS9, VOY, XF, BtVS, AtS, QL, E:FC, SG1, DS, Doctor Quinn: Medicine Woman, Sailor Moon, Babylon 5, Farscape, Lois and Clark, Gargoyles, Darkwing Duck, Pinky and the Brain, Batman Beyond, ReBoot and many more...

Comments

[greerwatson]

It may help if you have a more detailed example, based on FK.

In the "Relationship Field", you get five nominations. These can be written in any of the following formats:

Solo: Natalie Lambert
You're nominating Natalie on her own.

Nick Knight/Natalie Lambert
You're nominating Nick/Nat as a couple, i.e. romantic and/or sexual.

Nick Knight & Lucien LaCroix
You're nominating Nick and LaCroix in a non-sexual (CotK) relationship.

Solo: Worldbuilding (Forever Knight)
You're nominating worldbuilding, specifically in FK.

In each case, you'll specify further details in your prompts, if you go on to request the tag when you sign up.

[brightknightie]

Thank you. I think perhaps this fest didn't describe itself as clearly as I needed. It seemed to say that while you could nominate solo characters, matching was on relationships only. Probably everyone who regularly does AO3 events wasn't confused.

It also seems not to have advertised itself on any of the usual DW communities. I'll suggest that to the moderator and see what happens.

[greerwatson]

If you think you may take part, you should ensure that the things you might be interested in writing/requesting are in the tag set. If you want, I'm sure those of us more familiar with the way these exchanges are run would be glad to help you with formulating the tags correctly.

Up to you, obviously.

[brightknightie]

Thank you! I am thinking about it.

[thefruitbat]

Thanks for explaining. I was equally confused (still am a bit) but this clears it up some.

[argentum_ls]

To hopefully clarify a bit:

The language of Solo: Natalie Lambert is for nomination purposes only, and is used to keep the exchange’s tags differentiated from the general ao3 tags.

In many other exchanges, they use simple or matching. So, if I offered to write the characters “Natalie” and “Nick,” I could be matched to someone who requested “Natalie” or “Nick.” This could be a problem for the match if the person really wanted a “Natalie/Nick” story and didn’t provide any indication that they’d be happy with only one of the characters.

The way this exchange is being set up, a person who wants a “Natalie/Nick” story will have to request the specific relationship “Natalie/Nick.” If I offer “Natalie” and “Nick,” we won’t be matched because “Natalie” is not the same relationship as “Natalie/Nick.”

In other words, it cuts down on avenues of miscommunication (provided people use the tags correctly).

[sholio]

Yeah, chiming in with a bit of additional explanation: AO3 won't let you put "Natalie Lambert" by itself into the "Relationships" field; it'll give you an error, because AO3 has that specific tag already as a character. (And if it does let you, this will cause problems for everyone else using that tag, forever.) The "Solo: Natalie Lambert" language is solely to allow the exchange to get around that. Exchanges may do something similar with "Group: Natalie/Nick" in the "Character" field for similar reasons.