Fandom High Alumni: It's a Way of Life
This is all going behind an LJ cut because it's damned long, but if you have an alumni character or even if you're just interested, please read through it. This is the official stance on alumni topics of interest and, even if it is a little belated, we're finally setting ground rules for the alumni community and the activities of its members. Hopefully this will clear a few things up and provide a structure for people to operate by.
Alumni characters are students who have been played out through their senior year and have graduated from Fandom High. Former student characters who left before graduation and all former teacher and townie characters are not conisdered alumni.
The purpose of the fh_alumni community is to allow characters who have graduated the chance to continue to live out their lives post-Fandom. They are no longer considered residents of Fandom. As such, a separate set of rules applies to them in some cases. This post, which will be linked to from the fh_alumni community user information page, is intended to set some ground rules for alumni characters to ensure that everyone is fully informed of their obligations and limitations.
The alumni community was never intended to be a dominant force in the Fandom High game. It is intended as a side community, somewhere that people eventually go once they have been separated from Fandom on a semi-permanent basis.
Requirements
Alumni status is a privilege and a reward for playing your character through graduation and allowing them to move on from Fandom. As such, while you keep the character active as an alumnus, that character will remain in your control. No one else can apply with a version of that character during that time. In order to remain active, you must post an in character scene once per month in your character's journal or in the fh_alumni community. Failure to do so more than once without notifying the admins that you will be absent will result in you losing your character privileges and the character will be opened up for applications again. You will not be able to reapply that character with their Fandom High background.
Finding and Maintaining a Balance
If you have a character other than alumni in the Fandom High game, they should be your focus, not your alumnus.
Visiting Fandom
Once a character has graduated and left Fandom, they no longer are allowed back to the island without admin permission. This permission can only be obtained if the character has a good reason to be on the island. From Fall Semester 2007, there will be more occasional events (similar to Homecoming) when alumni are welcome back for the day. Otherwise, the character will need to be a guest speaker for a class or be a necessary part of a plot in order to return. These should be rare occasions that are limited in length. Do not grasp at straws for reasons to return to the island. Once your character has had their run as a student, it's time to move on to bigger and better things.
Returning as a Full-Time Character
Alumni characters are very unlikely to be accepted back as teachers or townies without a very good proposal. Such examples include Xander Harris and Anakin Skywalker (see their journals for a history). However, both Xander and Anakin spent time away from Fandom before returning, and the same will be expected of any would-be alumni wanting to return. Again, the proposal will have to be a very good one. We're not keen on alumni returning except under special circumstances.
The Alumni Network
Alumni can keep in contact with each other and with the island through email and phone calls in different universes thanks to the Fandom High Alumni Network. This requires using a special area code before dialling when using phones.
Keeping Things Separate
Different canonical universes should remain separate. For example, Stargate should not exist in the same universe as The Pretender unless every player from both canons agrees to the merge. This agreement can only occur when both universes are compatible. For example, a normal canon like Law and Order could be in the same universe as NCIS or The West Wing, but should not exist in the same universe as a canon with magic like The Dresden Files or supernatural powers like Smallville or Heroes.
This will not be grandfathered into effect for universes already established, but will occur from now on. There are, of course, shades of gray. If the decision is not clear-cut but you would like to consider the possibility of two canons being in the same universe, please bring it to the admins for discussion.
The Multiverse, Access To
Previous travel through the multiverse has been very loose, without guidelines and often handwaved. This is about to change. We will be using the pre-existing idea of Portalocity and developing it.
Portalocity and You
Through Portalocity, the multiverse's travel agency, you can gain access to universes other than your own. If you wish to visit a universe inhabited by a Fandom High alum from a departure point other than Fandom that universe will be registered with the Alumni Network, making it much easier to access than non-registered universes.
ICly, you can lodge your request to access a universe with Portalocity. Portalocity will then pass the request on to registered users on the Alumni Network in the universe being traveled to. If they accept the request, a direct connection can be made. This can be handwaved if both parties are in agreement, just keep in mind that it ICly has to happen unless there is a plot-related reason for the alum in that universe not to know. Then there can be mutually agreed upon arrangements to bribe the Portalocity agent or for the request to be accepted by someone else by accident.
If they refuse or you are trying to access a universe that is not connected to the Alumni Network, you will have to find a more difficult way of accessing a portal to that universe. This will require a good amount of research, maybe a ritual and probably traveling to somewhere obscure like Norway or Oklahoma. This way, it's still relatively simple to visit your alum friends, but not to universe hop from now on.
It is still possible for alumni to travel to Fandom (or be cut off for plotty reasons) without the use of Portalocity, but you will have to travel to Virginia the old-fashioned way. It is still possible for people in Fandom to leave Fandom and end up anywhere at any time (often with unexpected consequences). This is due to Fandom being a special nexus or hub in the multiverse.
Using Portalocity does not come cheap. The average price for a one-way trip is $75 USD or equivalent in various currencies. Occasionally, there will be sales made available through the Portalocity website, phone hotline or in the Portalocity store in your universe (if you can find one).
Travel to Fandom from the Virginia mainland (ie: walking across the causeway, flying/boating in and out, wandering in through the Preserve, appearing randomly), from Fandom to anywhere in the multiverse and from anywhere in the universe to Fandom does not cost anything as it is not controlled by Portalocity. Fandom to elsewhere and back has its own system. Only travel from universe to universe without using Fandom requires payment to Portalocity. That said, people are not allowed to randomly come back to Fandom just to go elsewhere.
Additionally, Portalocity is not as simple as stepping through a portal. Think of it more like a multiversal airport. To get to the portal, you will have to meet at a designated place, travel isn't quick or completely painless (figuratively speaking) and it's entirely possible that your luggage could end up in Australia, a million years ago.
In short: want to visit the universe of an alumnus? Go through the proper channels and it's simple, if a bit expensive for random lunch dates. Want to visit a universe that is home to an alumnus without their knowledge/authorization or isn't home to an alumnus? That's going to be more difficult.
What to Do?
Some characters are gifted with a canon that they can follow and tweak based on how Fandom has changed their character over the years. Some don't. Your best bet with maintaining an alumni character as a long term character is to have a plan. Figure out where you want your character to eventually end up. This doesn't have to be their normal canonical place once they're adults. They don't even have to end up in the same universe as they originall came from. However, you will need to find some way to sustain their activities over a long period of time if you want to keep them near-indefinitely and you should not rely on characters back in Fandom in order to do it. Talk to your fellow alumni. Set something up. Collaborate. Create an on-going storyline. Give them something to do. Some examples include following canon (such as Alanna of Trebond is doing at the moment) or set up a base of operations from which you can do short-term plots and invite people to temporarily join you (such as Angel and Logan Echolls have done at the Hyperion) or even tweak your timeline so that you can make leaps ahead and get to where you need to be faster than Fandom time (such as Xander and Anakin did and Jack is currently doing).
In short, it's okay to keep in contact with the character's friends back in Fandom, but do not rely on them for the bulk of your interaction. Your character has to move on and so do the people back in Fandom. Please allow them to do that.
If you find yourself struggling to find a direction for your character, talk to someone. Admins and mods are happy to help you brainstorm and patch something together, but you should consider putting a locked post up to the other alumni to see what results you can get from collaboration.
ETA: Edited to fix some confusing wording in the Portalocity section.
Alumni characters are students who have been played out through their senior year and have graduated from Fandom High. Former student characters who left before graduation and all former teacher and townie characters are not conisdered alumni.
The purpose of the fh_alumni community is to allow characters who have graduated the chance to continue to live out their lives post-Fandom. They are no longer considered residents of Fandom. As such, a separate set of rules applies to them in some cases. This post, which will be linked to from the fh_alumni community user information page, is intended to set some ground rules for alumni characters to ensure that everyone is fully informed of their obligations and limitations.
The alumni community was never intended to be a dominant force in the Fandom High game. It is intended as a side community, somewhere that people eventually go once they have been separated from Fandom on a semi-permanent basis.
Requirements
Alumni status is a privilege and a reward for playing your character through graduation and allowing them to move on from Fandom. As such, while you keep the character active as an alumnus, that character will remain in your control. No one else can apply with a version of that character during that time. In order to remain active, you must post an in character scene once per month in your character's journal or in the fh_alumni community. Failure to do so more than once without notifying the admins that you will be absent will result in you losing your character privileges and the character will be opened up for applications again. You will not be able to reapply that character with their Fandom High background.
Finding and Maintaining a Balance
If you have a character other than alumni in the Fandom High game, they should be your focus, not your alumnus.
Visiting Fandom
Once a character has graduated and left Fandom, they no longer are allowed back to the island without admin permission. This permission can only be obtained if the character has a good reason to be on the island. From Fall Semester 2007, there will be more occasional events (similar to Homecoming) when alumni are welcome back for the day. Otherwise, the character will need to be a guest speaker for a class or be a necessary part of a plot in order to return. These should be rare occasions that are limited in length. Do not grasp at straws for reasons to return to the island. Once your character has had their run as a student, it's time to move on to bigger and better things.
Returning as a Full-Time Character
Alumni characters are very unlikely to be accepted back as teachers or townies without a very good proposal. Such examples include Xander Harris and Anakin Skywalker (see their journals for a history). However, both Xander and Anakin spent time away from Fandom before returning, and the same will be expected of any would-be alumni wanting to return. Again, the proposal will have to be a very good one. We're not keen on alumni returning except under special circumstances.
The Alumni Network
Alumni can keep in contact with each other and with the island through email and phone calls in different universes thanks to the Fandom High Alumni Network. This requires using a special area code before dialling when using phones.
Keeping Things Separate
Different canonical universes should remain separate. For example, Stargate should not exist in the same universe as The Pretender unless every player from both canons agrees to the merge. This agreement can only occur when both universes are compatible. For example, a normal canon like Law and Order could be in the same universe as NCIS or The West Wing, but should not exist in the same universe as a canon with magic like The Dresden Files or supernatural powers like Smallville or Heroes.
This will not be grandfathered into effect for universes already established, but will occur from now on. There are, of course, shades of gray. If the decision is not clear-cut but you would like to consider the possibility of two canons being in the same universe, please bring it to the admins for discussion.
The Multiverse, Access To
Previous travel through the multiverse has been very loose, without guidelines and often handwaved. This is about to change. We will be using the pre-existing idea of Portalocity and developing it.
Portalocity and You
Through Portalocity, the multiverse's travel agency, you can gain access to universes other than your own. If you wish to visit a universe inhabited by a Fandom High alum from a departure point other than Fandom that universe will be registered with the Alumni Network, making it much easier to access than non-registered universes.
ICly, you can lodge your request to access a universe with Portalocity. Portalocity will then pass the request on to registered users on the Alumni Network in the universe being traveled to. If they accept the request, a direct connection can be made. This can be handwaved if both parties are in agreement, just keep in mind that it ICly has to happen unless there is a plot-related reason for the alum in that universe not to know. Then there can be mutually agreed upon arrangements to bribe the Portalocity agent or for the request to be accepted by someone else by accident.
If they refuse or you are trying to access a universe that is not connected to the Alumni Network, you will have to find a more difficult way of accessing a portal to that universe. This will require a good amount of research, maybe a ritual and probably traveling to somewhere obscure like Norway or Oklahoma. This way, it's still relatively simple to visit your alum friends, but not to universe hop from now on.
It is still possible for alumni to travel to Fandom (or be cut off for plotty reasons) without the use of Portalocity, but you will have to travel to Virginia the old-fashioned way. It is still possible for people in Fandom to leave Fandom and end up anywhere at any time (often with unexpected consequences). This is due to Fandom being a special nexus or hub in the multiverse.
Using Portalocity does not come cheap. The average price for a one-way trip is $75 USD or equivalent in various currencies. Occasionally, there will be sales made available through the Portalocity website, phone hotline or in the Portalocity store in your universe (if you can find one).
Travel to Fandom from the Virginia mainland (ie: walking across the causeway, flying/boating in and out, wandering in through the Preserve, appearing randomly), from Fandom to anywhere in the multiverse and from anywhere in the universe to Fandom does not cost anything as it is not controlled by Portalocity. Fandom to elsewhere and back has its own system. Only travel from universe to universe without using Fandom requires payment to Portalocity. That said, people are not allowed to randomly come back to Fandom just to go elsewhere.
Additionally, Portalocity is not as simple as stepping through a portal. Think of it more like a multiversal airport. To get to the portal, you will have to meet at a designated place, travel isn't quick or completely painless (figuratively speaking) and it's entirely possible that your luggage could end up in Australia, a million years ago.
In short: want to visit the universe of an alumnus? Go through the proper channels and it's simple, if a bit expensive for random lunch dates. Want to visit a universe that is home to an alumnus without their knowledge/authorization or isn't home to an alumnus? That's going to be more difficult.
What to Do?
Some characters are gifted with a canon that they can follow and tweak based on how Fandom has changed their character over the years. Some don't. Your best bet with maintaining an alumni character as a long term character is to have a plan. Figure out where you want your character to eventually end up. This doesn't have to be their normal canonical place once they're adults. They don't even have to end up in the same universe as they originall came from. However, you will need to find some way to sustain their activities over a long period of time if you want to keep them near-indefinitely and you should not rely on characters back in Fandom in order to do it. Talk to your fellow alumni. Set something up. Collaborate. Create an on-going storyline. Give them something to do. Some examples include following canon (such as Alanna of Trebond is doing at the moment) or set up a base of operations from which you can do short-term plots and invite people to temporarily join you (such as Angel and Logan Echolls have done at the Hyperion) or even tweak your timeline so that you can make leaps ahead and get to where you need to be faster than Fandom time (such as Xander and Anakin did and Jack is currently doing).
In short, it's okay to keep in contact with the character's friends back in Fandom, but do not rely on them for the bulk of your interaction. Your character has to move on and so do the people back in Fandom. Please allow them to do that.
If you find yourself struggling to find a direction for your character, talk to someone. Admins and mods are happy to help you brainstorm and patch something together, but you should consider putting a locked post up to the other alumni to see what results you can get from collaboration.
ETA: Edited to fix some confusing wording in the Portalocity section.