Hi! I'm glad to hear you're thinking about signing up. I'm sorry to hear you missed nominations.

Because of the number of fandoms involved, we can't match on more than fandom, media, and (hopefully) character. And we can't run the matching on any characters who aren't in the tagset. What this means is that while you can definitely mention characters who weren't nominated and say that you'd love to see them included (or say that you're okay with works focusing on them instead of the nominated characters), we can't require your creator to focus on them. We'd also prefer that you not tell your creator that you won't be happy unless you receive someone who wasn't nominated.

Specific answers:

1. You can definitely mention a Hoshi/Mayweather/Reed ship as something you'd like to receive, but no, there's no guarantee that's what you'll receive. We're matching on 'or' not 'and,' so even if all three of those characters had been nominated, there's no guarantee you'd receive a creator who had offered all three. And even someone who offered all three might not have been thinking of shipping the three of them, so there'd still be no guarantee of Hoshi/Mayweather/Reed ship. If you do request Enterprise, I would strongly recommend not making that the only thing you ask for. It's generally better on both sides if the creator has a few options to choose from.

2. You can definitely ask for a first time fic, but optional details are optional, so there's no guarantee you'll get one.

3. Matching occurs by fandom, media (fic, art, etc.), and (hopefully) by character. I'm afraid that with the range of fandoms in the tag set, we can't use any more criteria than that without risking our ability to match people. So tags like 'romance' will not be used in matching.

4. We will be matching on 'or,' so yes, you could offer McCoy and Spock, and get matched on someone who wants Kirk and/or Spock. In that case, you'd be allowed to write a fic that focuses just on Spock (since you're only required to include one character). This is why it's important to provide your writer with options--you don't know what they may have offered when they get matched to you!

I completely understand being disappointed that we can't guarantee your favourites and I'm sorry. We'll probably run this again next year, so hopefully you'll get a chance to ask for your favourites then!