caseficexchange | 2025 Rules and Guidelines.

Detectives, investigators, citizen detectives, and nosy busybodies (and to anyone we left out)—please ensure you familiarise yourself with the rules and guidelines for participation.

Please feel free to leave any and all questions in the comments (anonymous commenting is on) or email gumshoeagency@gmail.com. (If you email us, please allow two business days for a response before following up.) We will not be responding to Discord messages.

House Rules

You must be 18+ to participate in this exchange.

Don't be an asshole. We will ban participants who act in bad faith and will do so without warning.

We do not allow socks in this exchange.

The exchange is an AO3 exchange. All participants are required to have an AO3 account.

This Dreamwidth community will be the main communication channel for the exchange. Please ensure you follow it for announcements!

AI works are not accepted. We will permanently ban anyone caught using AI to create fanworks in this exchange.

The exchange allows:
- "/" nominations signifying romantic and/or sexual relationships, i.e. "Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars (VMars)".
- "&" nominations signifying platonic and gen relationships, i.e. "Logan Echolls & Veronica Mars (VMars)".
- "Solo:" nominations will work in two ways: (1) signifying a single character to be the main focus of the fanwork, i.e. "Solo: Veronica Mars (VMars)" and (2) signifying a group, such as "Solo: The Muppets", where one or more Muppets will be the central focus of the work.

Please note the mod team is on AEDT/AEST time.

What Counts?

Do I have to nominate a detective canon?

Does my work have to involve a case?

What counts as a "case" for the exchange?

Does the case have to be solved?

Can my story have romance/sex or be a character study?

What mediums are allowed?

Fic: 3,000 words minimum.
Comics: 10 panels minimum.
Podfic: A recording of a completed fic of 3,000 words minimum with "casefic" as one of its tags.

Nominations

Last updated the nominations rules 29 March 2025 AEDT.

Nominations and nomination queries will be managed on the Dreamwidth community. The nominations themselves will be hosted on AO3. An AO3 account is required to participate.

Each participant may nominate up to 10 fandoms with up to 10 relationships in each. Nominations must be disambiguated to be accepted (i.e. "Enola Holmes/Viscount Tewkesbury (Enola Holmes Movie)").

All fandoms, ships, platonic pairings, and solo characters requested and offered in this exchange must be chosen from those nominated into the tagset. Additional fandoms and ships, platonic pairings, and solo characters will not be added outside of the nomination period. Please nominate what you want to receive and create for!

Regarding specific canon eligibility:
- RPF: RPF is permitted. Non-famous family members and under 18s are not eligible. We will not be allowing nominations for world leaders and reserve the right to reject any RPF nomination that we feel will cause distress to our participants.
- Threesomes/moresomes: These types of relationships are permitted, whether they are romantic or platonic. (Romantic is to be signified with an "/" and platonic with "&".)
- Crossovers: Crossovers are permitted. These should be nominated under "Crossover Fandom" with the fandom name for each character in brackets, e.g. "Taissa Turner (Yellowjackets) & Michelle Jones (MCU)".
- Original characters in non-original canons: You may nominate Canon Character/Original Character(s) and Canon Character & Original Character(s). You are welcome to be as specific or as broad as you wish, e.g. "Veronica Mars/Original Female Character (VMars)" or "Abed Nadir & Original Male Character (Community)".
  
  We highly encourage you ensure your nomination specifies the gender of the OC unless unless you're interested in receiving a fanwork with any gender, i.e., "Misty Quigley & Original Character (Yellowjackets)" is broad and unspecific, and means your creator will be allowed to define the gender of the OC. If you are interested in a specific gender for the OC, please nominate this specifically, i.e. "Misty Quigley & Original Female Character (Yellowjackets)".
  
  We will not accept participants who try to box their creator into a specific type of relationship using their optional details in their sign-up. Please keep that in mind while nominating.
- Original Works: These must be nominated under "Original Work" in the format "Character Type/Character Type", "Character Type & Character Type" and "Solo: Character Type", e.g. "Princess/Maid (OW)", "Female Pilot & Male Soldier (OW)", "Solo: Female Archeologist (OW)", etc.
  
  We encourage you to be specific regarding gender. Please try not to be overly specific—our tags have character limitations, and we also will not allow boxing in creators.
- Recursive: These fandoms will be allowed as long as the nominators provide evidence that the creator has given permission for recursive works. This should be submitted either via email or at the nominations post. Recursive nominations that fail to provide this proof will be rejected.
- Canon/Reader: We do not allow Reader/Canon Character to be nominated in any form.

"Solo: Group" tags mean "one or more of this group" whether or not they have "any" in front of them.

If you request an ambiguous group, i.e. "Solo: The Avengers", we will assume any possible member(s) of that group fulfil the request.

Where there is ambiguity created by a nomination, we will likely side with the creator. If you want to ensure you get specific characters, then nominate them by name. If you request "Veronica Mars & Any Avenger" and include in your DNWs that you do not want Bruce Banner, we may not enforce this.

Sign-Ups

An AO3 account is required to sign-up/participate.

Requesting and offering

You can request 1-10 fandoms with 1-10 relationships, and a choice of fiction, comic, podfic, a combination, or all three. 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 fiction, comic, podfic, a combination, or all three.

You will be guaranteed a gift if you request a minimum of 3 unique fandoms.

Regarding mediums, if you're requesting one, a combination, or all three, and are open to treats (e.g., requesting fic, but welcome comic treats or requesting fic and comic but welcome podfic), please make a mention of it in the details of your sign-up.

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!

If there aren't any offers that match your requests, you will go out for claiming as an initial pinch hit (IPH).

If there aren't any requests that match your offers, the mods will contact you at the email address associated with your AO3 account to see if there is anything else you can offer. If you do not reply within 24 hours, or there is nothing else you can offer, your sign-up will be deleted. (Please ensure this email is up to date before sign-ups close!)

Additional things to consider:

Do Not Wants (DNWs): Please include anything you absolutely don't want to receive in the Optional Details field in your AO3 sign-up and label this clearly as "Do Not Wants" (DNW). These are concepts etc. that would ruin a gift for you.

In the event that a DNW is included in your gift, only reasonable DNWs in your sign-up will be enforced.

Please remember that DNWs cannot be used to box your creator into producing a very specific work. We encourage you to be specific and clear in what you would like to not receive. Please do not use defamatory language when describing your dislikes as what you dislike may be what someone else likes.

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.

In the optional details and in Dear Creator letters, please do not place preference for one request over the others, as there isn't a guarantee you will be matched on that fandom. Please only request what you want to receive!

If your sign-up breaks any of the rules above, we will contact you to request edits made to your sign-up. If we do not receive a response, we will delete your sign-up.

Sign-ups made in bad faith will be deleted without contacting the recipient. This exchange has been designed to be an enjoyable community event.

Do Not Match requests:

We accept do not match requests for this exchange. Please email us before sign-ups close at gumshoeagency@gmail.com letting us know your AO3 name, the AO3 name of the participant you would like to not be matched to, and what you would like us to do in the instance where you are their only match as a creator, you are their only match as a recipient, and you are a pinch hit. We don't need to know the reasons for this request. We'll do our best to action your request.

Assignments

Assignments are only guaranteed to match on one fandom, one ship, and one medium.

Minimum requirements are a complete work of:
- Fic: 3,000 words minimum.
- Comics: 10 panels minimum.
- Podfic: A recording of a completed fic of 3,000 words minimum with "casefic" as one of its tags.
AI works are not permitted in this exchange and will result in a permanent ban.

Your assignment must be a completed work with a primary focus on an investigation and the requested ship or characters requested. The investigation must be solved.

You are only required to create for one of your recipient's requests. This doesn’t have to be the one you matched.

If your assignment does not match the fandoms/ships/medium you offered, contact the mods as soon as possible. We will not allow anyone to change assignments for any other reason.

Please do not discuss or post about your assignment in public. This is an anonymous exchange! Creators must remain anonymous until creator reveals.

Contacting recipients:

Please do not contact your recipient asking them for clarification on their requests.

If you would like to seek clarification from your recipient about your assignment, please email the mods at gumshoeagency@gmail.com with your AO3 username, your question, and your recipient's AO3 username. We will send it to your recipient on your behalf. (We will do our best to ensure the recipient remains in the dark about what they are receiving!)

Please feel free to give us as much information as needed, and please assume the mods are canon blind when sending through your question(s).

Please avoid negative self-talk in author's notes. We will ask you to remove this as we feel everyone participating should feel proud of their work. (You're all stars!)

Do not include any self-identifying information, i.e. links to social media. You're welcome to include this after the round is over. (Hey, it's fun trying to guess who created what while we're in our work reveals phase! Let's go a little meta with our exchange theme.)

Assignments: About Mediums

You are more than welcome to create above the minimum! We highly encourage this, but it is not required to go above the minimum in order to participate in this exchange.

Fic:
- If you choose to create a piece of written fiction, you are required to complete a work of 3,000 words minimum that includes a beginning/middle/end and a case being solved.
Comics:
- If you choose to create a comic, you are required to complete 10 panels minimum that includes a beginning/middle/end of a case being solved.
- 300 words = 1 panel.
- It must be clear an investigation is taking place in the artwork.
- This does not need to be coloured.
- We will be leaving it to the discretion of the artist as to whether they include an art credit tag on their artwork. (This is one of the only times we will be lenient on anonymity.)
Podfic:
- If you choose to create a podfic, you are required to record a completed fic of 3,000 words minimum with "casefic" (or an equivalent tag that heavily implies/depicts the work as focusing on an investigation) as one of the tags.
  
  If you're unsure a tag qualifies, please feel free to reach out to the mods!
- We recommend searching for authors who have a blanket permission statement in their profile.
- Please do not record fic written by authors who have not given permission for podfic to be made of their works.
- If we cannot find evidence the author has granted permission for their work to be podded, we reserve the right to remove the work from the collection. (If they have given it to you privately, please feel free to email this proof to us.)
- If the work does not have "casefic" or any type of tag that suggests the plot is about an investigation, but it's clear from the summary that it is, we will allow it.
- Podficcers are welcome to create cover art for their podfic. This is not mandatory.
- Podficcers are welcome to include their usual introductions on their recordings. We will leave this to the creator's discretion as to how they prefer to submit their work when it comes to anonymity. (This is one of the only times we will be lenient on anonymity.)
- Podficcers are welcome to upload their works to their chosen host. We are aware this may break anonymity. (This is one of the only times we will be lenient on anonymity.)

Posting

The collection is moderated so works can be checked for completion and ensure it fits the exchange's criteria. If your work stays in moderation for longer than three days, please reach out to the mods.

Works containing excessive spelling or grammar errors (enough to hinder comprehension), unclear art, or an incomplete recording will not be accepted.

Gifts must be completed by the assignment deadline to fulfil the assignment requirements. WIPs (e.g., a fic posted as "1/?", a comic posted as "1/?", and a podfic posted as "1/?" or, in the instance multiple links are included for a multi-chapter do not seem to reflect a completed work) will not count as a completed gift.

If you are posting a chaptered work, all chapters must be posted by the assignment deadline. If your work is not complete, your recipient will be immediately sent out as a pinch hit and you may be banned from future rounds.

As works should remain anonymous during the collection's anonymous period, do not post your work elsewhere before the creator reveals or discuss the details publicly. You can do so after creator reveals—and we highly encourage you to once the exchange is over!

Please do not submit incomplete works by the assignment deadline; it will be deemed incomplete and your recipient will go to pinch hit and you may be banned. You're welcome to edit your work after the assignment deadline, but it must be complete and able to stand on its own at this deadline.

Saved drafts do not fulfil assignments. Make sure you actually post your gift so we can accept it into the collection!

If you create a gift that intentionally crosses your recipient's DNWs, intentionally stirs wank/drama, or harasses any other participant during the process, you will be permanently banned from the exchange. The purpose of this exchange is to have fun.

Extensions

If you need an extension, please email gumshoeagency@gmail.com, including how long you need and your AO3 username. We will confirm the extension and new deadline via return email.

We don't need any explanations regarding why you need an extension. (Though please do let us know if you have extenuating circumstances so we can figure something out if time allows.)

Please ensure you ask for an extension before the assignment deadline. Extensions will not be given once the assignment deadline has passed.

Defaulting

If you cannot finish your gift, please default. You will not be disqualified if you do this before the default deadline.

If you default before the no-penalty default deadline, you are no longer required to create a gift for your recipient.

If you default and are defaulted on before the no-penalty deadline, you are not guaranteed a gift and will not be sent out to pinch hit.

If you default after the default deadline, you will no longer be guaranteed a gift.

We will default you if you have not posted a gift by the assignment deadline.

Pinch Hits

Pinch hits will be posted to the Dreamwidth community (this community!).

Please reply to the pinch hit post with the pinch hit number and your AO3 username. If you are successful, we will reply to your comment or email to confirm the allocation and will officially assign the pinch hit to you through AO3.

You can claim a pinch hit even if you aren't signed up for the exchange, but you will need an AO3 account.

If you do claim a pinch hit without logging into Dreamwidth (so, anonymously), we will not be able to respond to your comment. If you don't have a Dreamwidth account, please email us. We need a way to contact you.

Treats

You can write/draw/pod additional gifts for other participants and post them to the exchange collection as treats. These do not have to be for your assigned recipient.

If you would like a treat, we recommend including a note in your sign-up to indicate that you are open to receiving treats. (Doing this does not guarantee you will receive a treat.)

If you would like a treat, please check your preferences to ensure you accept gifts from unassigned creators. You can check this setting by navigating to your AO3 page, clicking 'Preferences', and clicking 'Allow anyone to gift me works' under 'Collections, Challenges and Gifts'. (Doing this does not guarantee you will receive a treat.)

You are welcome to create treats even if you aren't signed up for the exchange. (Please note treaters who are not participants or pinch hitters will not be receiving gifts as part of the exchange.) We highly encourage it!

To post treats, navigate to the collection and click 'Post to Collection'. You will need to manually add the name of your intended recipient—please check this very carefully!

Treats do not have to fulfil the minimum word count. They must, however, include a fandom, relationship, and medium requested by the recipient, clearly feature an investigation, and not include any DNWs listed in the sign-up.

Treats will not become main gifts for this exchange.

Treats to the collection (so no recipient) are allowed but must focus on the theme of investigations. (Please note that if you treat the collection, our mandatory commenting policy does not apply to your work.)

Commenting

Please comment on your gifts.

If you cannot comment on your gift for any reason, please contact the mods before the next round via email at gumshoeagency@gmail.com

If you do not comment on your gifts, you will be ineligible to participate in the next round.

Thank you to the nonnies on BFE for helping brainstorm the creation period and comic requirements, and embraidery for sense-checking this post.