Who can participate in The Gotham Buddy Exchange?

Any fan of the television show Gotham. This is an open event for all. Multi-shippers, Nygmobblepot, Freezewald, Gordlock, Gobblepot, Nylock, Baby BatCat, Foxma, Babatha…. Whatever you ship, you are welcomed! If you can make something that can be posted on Tumblr, and if you want to take some time to make someone’s fandom experience a little brighter, you can participate!

Please don’t be intimidated. This is a perfect time to take a plunge, to meet someone you might not have gotten a chance to know, to create something to make them happy and receive something for yourself. This is all in good fandom fun and we can’t do this without you!

How does the Gotham Buddy Exchange work?

We take the form you’ve sent to us and assign you to someone. You’ll find out who it is when they post your present on October 31st. They’ll make you something, and on the 31st they’ll post it to their blog. It will be tagged with your URL, and Gotham Buddy Exchange so check both places if you have to!  We fully understand the glitches of this site. You’ll get to jump for joy and squee at the wonderful gift you have received and finally get to meet the person who created it. We all get to look at all the awesome presents being exchanged throughout the Gotham fandom. You’ll also get a chance to send your partner Anonymous Messages during the course of this event. This is a time to get to know each other, chat about what you would like or not like to see in your gift— or, just wish each other a good day. You should get Anonymous Messages from your Buddy in return. Please make sure you reply to the messages your Buddy sends to you on your blog – Anonymous Messages is the way they will get to know you, to make your gift more personal!

When do I sign up?

Sign-ups will start on August 13th and close on August 27th. That’s a two week sign up period. We will start handing out Buddies from the 28th to the 31st. You will have the entire months of September and October to create your gift.

What makes a good gift?

A good gift: Answers one of the prompts your Buddy has asked for. You don’t have to do them all. One is the minimum.

It must be completed work - Make and finish the gift to be posted on October 31st. This is the requirement for participation.  If your gift is a fic, please no “To Be Continued,” or “Part 2 Coming Soon!” You can always add to it later if you wish but the gift you give and receive must be able to stand as a story on its own.

Your work must be original - Please don’t copy old work and present it as new. I know this is the first year of this event, but I’ve seen this happen in other fandom events. It’s lazy and disrespectful to the person receiving it.

Examples of gifts:

Fanart

Fanfiction

Fanmixes

Fanvideos

Gifsets 

Photo edits

Moodboards/aesthetics

Please show that you tried your best to create something new for your Buddy. You have two months to make something, so please produce something that will make you and your Buddy happy. Make something you are proud of giving, something that you would like to receive yourself.

Please tag appropriately! - #Gotham Buddy Exchange, and #Partner’s Username MUST be the FIRST TWO tags. Then you can follow with ship names or however else you wish to tag. Tumblr only puts the first 6 tags in the public domain, so please make sure these are first so that we can all find them.

What are the Fic requirements?

If your gift is a fic, the minimum is 1,000 words of completed, edited, and original text. That’s it. We are not asking too much. 

There is no maximum, but we’d ask that you post your story all at once on Tumblr. You may post on FFN or AO3 too and just blog your gift as a link. Whatever mode or method you decide on, is your decision.

What happens if my buddy and I are not compatible?

As users of Tumblr, we understand that strife can occur between certain parties and within particular fandom circles. This event is to bring people together, to not only have fun and celebrate the show we love but the people who love it too. The most important rule is to respect your partner, despite their pairings or views on the show.