allbutromance. Entries tagged with 2026

Welcome to the All But Romance Fanwork Exchange, a gen multifandom gift exchange run on AO3 focused on all kinds of platonic relationships - familial, friendships, colleagues etc. During the exchange you have to create at least a 2k fic meeting the requirements, or at least a clean and detailed lineart.

We're focusing on fanworks with no romantic or sexual content, so for the purpose of this exchange we decided not to accept relationships indicated by a / (slash).

THIS YEAR WE'RE STARTING A LITTLE EARLIER!

Schedule:
Nominations: 6 April – 16 April 2026 (in your timezone) (in your timezone)
Signups: 20 April – 3 May 2026 (in your timezone) (in your timezone)
Soft check-in: 15 – 21 June 2026 (in your timezone) (in your timezone)
Default deadline: 5 July (in your timezone)
Posting deadline: 2 August 2026 (in your timezone)
Work reveal: 14 August 2026 (in your timezone)
Creator reveal: 21 August 2026 (in your timezone)

NOTE THE CHANGE OF THE TIMEZONE THIS YEAR!
All deadlines are at 20:00 UTC+1 | CEST

Subcollection 2026 | Nomination Guidelines | Tagset | Rules and Guidelines | AO3 Magic App (with easy access to sign-ups) TBA | Treats for Pinch Hitters TBA

The mod e-mail is: allbutromance@gmail.com
You can catch us on tumblr.

There have been some changes in the rules this year, for the full breakdown please check out full posts (nomination guidelines and rules and guidelines), most important ones:

Nominations

Where applicable, please use the canonical tag (so whatever shows from the drop-down menu on ao3)
There were changes to nominating Original Works (regarding how to tag characters)
We're allowing Recursive fandoms now
Nominating multiple characters in one tag limited to 4 characters (groups still ok)

Rules and guidelines

From this year, we'll be enforcing a ban for defaulting after the default deadline, see details in the rules and guidelines. To be unbanned, you will have to do a make-up assignment.
Extensions changed from 48 hours to 7 days.
There will be a soft check-in (not mandatory) this is for this round only for now.
We'll have Do-Not-Match requests for max. 2 users THIS IS ON TRIAL BASIS, if it doesn't work or is too much work for us, we'll not do this next round.

Tags:

krzeslicko

Changes from last year will be bolded and underlined like this.

General rules:

You must be 18+ to enter
The exchange is Anonymous, so please don't talk about your work until the reveals, and don't contact your recipient directly
CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR: This year we’ll start to enforce a ban if you are a no-show on the day of or default AFTER the default deadline, otherwise you’re free to default, but you will not be permitted to go out as a pinch hit.
Participants who act in bad faith will be banned
The exchange is an AO3 exchange. All participants are required to have an AO3 account
You cannot enter with more than 1 account
All announcements will be posted on the Dreamwidth community and on tumblr. Please ensure you can access it
AI works are not accepted. Participants using AI will be banned
All works must be written in English
If you receive a gift that does not meet the minimum requirements or contains your DNWs, please reach out to the mod. Otherwise, please comment on your gift!
Please don’t include negative self-talk in the Author’s Note! We’re sure your work is splendid.
Please don’t badmouth your Creator in the online spaces!
If there's an explicit Do Not Want in your gift, please contact the mods.
Avoid character bashing, kinkshaming, and ship wars in your sign-up and when creating your fanworks.

Signups:

You will be matched on one fandom + one relationship + one medium
You can request 3-10 fandoms with 1-10 relationships, and a choice of medium. While you can repeat fandoms, you need to have 3 unique ones to qualify for a gift.
You can offer 3-10 fandoms with 1-10 relationships, and a choice of medium.
Unmatchables (those who do not have anyone they can create for) will be emailed and will have 72 hours to respond to add offers to become matchable. Otherwise, their signup will be deleted.
You can edit your sign-up until the sign-up period closes.
All fandoms and relationships requested and offered in this exchange must be chosen from those nominated into the tagset. Please nominate to make sure what you want to request/offer appears.
Please provide at least a few things you like about each fandom you're requesting.

Assignments requirements:

Please ensure you stay anonymous until Creator Reveals (don’t post your work on public social media, or talk about it online)

Assignments requirements for Fics:

Keep your work Anonymous until the reveals
Minimum 2000 words in one of the requester’s fandoms, featuring one or more of the characters or relationships they requested
The fill cannot include any DNWs
Your fill must be a newly created and complete fanwork. It must be a standalone and cannot be part of an existing series of connected fanworks. You cannot have multiple recipients for one fanwork.
AI generated fanworks of any kind are NOT allowed.

Assignments requirements for Art:

An original (traditional or digital) piece created by the artist
Use of AI is not permitted
It should be a detailed lineart at minimum, drawn on an unlined paper (applies to traditional art)
Minimum size should be 500 000 pixels (for example 710 pixels x 710 pixels or 500 pixels x 1000 pixels)
It should be in one of the requester's fandoms, featuring one or more of the characters they requested.
Artists may sign their pieces.

Dear Creator Letters:

There will be a section in the sign-up where letters can be linked to give your creator further details on your likes, dislikes, and other request details. Dear Creator letters are optional.
Please be aware we will not be enforcing any DNWs that are in your letter. DNWs must be in your sign-up.
You are allowed to add an optional letter to your request, but the letter must be complete and viewable by the time assignments go out. Your recipient will not be obligated to wait for your letter to be complete and viewable after they receive their assignment. Make sure the letter is easy to access as well.

DNW:

Archive Warnings are opt-in
DNWs must be in the optional details box to be enforceable, any DNWs in a linked letter will not be enforced.
All DNWs must be reasonable, clear, and judgement-free.
You cannot contradict your request with a DNW (ex. DNWing Geralf of Rivia/Jaskier after requesting Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier).
Your DNWs cannot box in your creator (ex. DNW everything except Jaskier being tortured). Any unreasonable/bad-faith DNW will not be enforced.
You are allowed to add an optional letter to your request, but the letter must be complete and viewable by the time assignments go out. Your recipient will not be obligated to wait for your letter to be complete and viewable after they receive their assignment. Make sure the letter is easy to access as well.

Pinch Hits:

If you cannot complete your assignment, please default as soon as possible so that the request can be put out as a Pinch Hit.
Pinch Hits will be posted here on the Dreamwidth community and on Tumblr.
Comments on the Pinch Hit post will be screened; to claim a PH, reply to the post on DW with your AO3 username, the PH number you want to claim along with the AO3 username for the PH you are claiming, and your email address.
Anonymous comments will be enabled, and no Dreamwidth account will be required for claiming. You do not need to be signed up with the exchange either, however your gift must adhere to the recipient's DNWs.
Pinch Hits must meet all the minimum assignment requirements.

Deadline Extension

You may request a 7-day extension if you contact the mods via email before the deadline.

Treats:

The treat does not need to meet the word-count/art minimum, but must meet all other requirements.
Treats will be opt-out. If you do not wish to receive a treat, please include that in your sign-up. If you do wish to receive a treat, feel free to indicate that in your sign-up and make sure your account is set to allow gifts.

2026 ADDITIONS:

Make-up assignments:
This year, we’re introducing make-up assignments.
If you’re a no-show this year (you don’t submit your assignment on time AND/OR after you’ve requested an extension, or defaulted after the default deadline), you’ll be expected to create a make-up assignment BEFORE the next run of the exchange (if you want to participate again).
Otherwise, you’ll be banned from the exchange until you submit a make-up work.
Rules are simple - pick a combination of tags from that year (fandom + relationship + medium) and submit a completed work to that year’s collection – so at least a detailed lineart or 2k of fanfic.

Soft check-in - this round only for now
This year we’re also introducing a soft check-in – a week near the finish line where you can comment on a post to let us know you’re still working on/planning to finish your work. It’s not mandatory, but should serve as a reminder to default, if need be.

Do-not-match requests - this round only for now
This year you can request up to 2 users you do not wish to match with (as a creator or recipient). We'll not ask for your reasons but please note that if there's no one else you could create for, you might be still matched with that user.

Rules subject to change.

Tags:

krzeslicko

Changes from last year will be bolded and underlined like this.

Basic info:

You can nominate up to

10 Fandoms

10 Pairings per fandom

CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR
Where applicable, please use the canonical tag (so whatever shows from the drop-down menu on ao3)

Only "&" relationships will be accepted

So nominations signifying platonic and gen relationships, i.e. "Chucky E. Cheese (Chuck E. Cheese's Animatronic Shows) & Ronald McDonald (Burger King "The Burger King" Commercials)"

Solo nominations (only one character) will not be accepted at this time.

Crossovers are eligible
Nominations should go under Crossover Fandom with the character's fandom indicated
Ex. "Batman (DCU) & Bilbo Baggins (Hobbit)"
OR if you want to nominate a character/characters in another universe: “Batman (DCU) in Amestris (FMA:B)”

Original Works are allowed
For Original Works, please specify the gender of the characters you're requesting, i.e. CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR "Accountant & Journalist (F&NB)"
If you would like to leave it up to your match, use (Any&Any)
Please check already-approved tags before you start nominating.
For Female - use F;
For Male - use M;
For Non-binary - use NB;
For Other - use Oth;
For Any - use Any;

When nominating Original Work, please make sure your entry is clear and easy to understand. You might be asked to clarify your nomination.

Nominations of Character & Group are allowed
But any member(s) of said group will be considered to be fulfilling the requirements, i.e. "Bilbo Baggins & Thorin's Company" - Creator can include all/any members of Thorin's Company.

RPF is allowed
But nominated people have to be 18+ and famous in their own right. Government officials and politicians, as well as world leaders, will not be accepted. If the proof of age cannot be easily found, the nomination will be rejected. We reserve the right to reject any nomination that could be distressing to other participants.
Relatives/significant others are not allowed unless they are also public figures.

“Creator’s Choice of Fandom” will not be allowed at this time.

We do not allow Reader&Canon Character or You&Canon Character to be nominated in any form.
CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR
We will now accept Main Characters from video games where you create your own character, such as Tav from Baldur's Gate 3, provided they have their own distinct storyline. The specifics on how the PC should look etc will be left to the requester’s discretion (i.e. put as many or as little details in your sign-up form as you want).

Original Characters
Please disambiguate the gender of your OC, ex. "Original Male Character & Edward Elric"
CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR: If you want to leave the character's gender up to your creator, put “Any Original Character(s)” in your sign-up
We allow Original Character(s) & Original Character(s) as a possible entry.

No "/" relationships are allowed
Even in the format "Prompto Argentum & Ignis Scientia/Gladiolus Amicitia"

CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR
Recursive fanfiction is allowed at this time, but there must be a proof (link to creator's statement, post, ao3) that the author agrees to it.

Ao3 account is required to participate

You can nominate more characters which means your creator will be required to use all of them. CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR: You can include a maximum of 4 characters in that way.
Ex. Geralt of Rivia & Yennefer of Vengerberg & Jaskier & Ciri
If you want any characters from the group, nominate “Character A & Group”.

Fandom specific nominations

Original Work should be nominated as Original Work
Crossover Fandom should be nominated as Crossover Fandom and should be formatted as: "Chucky E. Cheese (Chuck E. Cheese's Animatronic Shows) & Ronald McDonald (Burger King "The Burger King" Commercials)"
Marvel comics: Please nominate by universe, eg Marvel 616, Marvel Adventures
MCU nominations should be nominated under their appropriate movie/franchise. If nominating in a subfranchise (for example, Thor (Movies)), all characters in the nom should have appeared in a movie from that subfranchise. Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter, and the Marvel Netflix universe of shows are also all separate fandoms
Star Wars nominations should be nominated under the appropriate movie, trilogy, TV show, etc (Andor, Rogue One, Star Wars Legends), "crossovers" should be put in CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR Crossovers
Boruto and Naruto should be separate nominations
Nominate Star Trek characters by their series/book/movie, Alternate Original Series should be its own thing
DC Comics: Main-continuity DC comics, including pre-Flashpoint and New 52, will be under "DCU (Comics)". Other DC universes will be separate by universe
Arrowverse: Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Constantine, Batwoman, Black Lightning, and Legends of Tomorrow tv shows can be nominated together as "DC's Arrowverse"
Dragon Age: Please nominate under "Dragon Age (Video Games)"
Stargate - please use their separate frenchises (ex. Stargate - Atlantis, Stargate SG1)
The Witcher - please nominate the games under "Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game)", the books under their own tag, etc

Rules subject to change.

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All But Romance Fanwork Exchange

Entries tagged with 2026

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