About the Sign-Up Form
The S I G N - U P F O R M
GENERAL:
username: Just put your username here. This is just a formality, because we PM you the prompts instead of using email.
pairings/characters: Romantic couplings use character names seperated by a slash (/). Fandom names (CharaNames)are usually understood. If you want to see two characters as friends or family, use their names seperated with an 'and'. Feel free to specify what kind of relationship you want to see, if you want to. Groupings of characters are also acceptable.
story prompts: Words, phrases, or scenarios that you want at the core of the story. Remember, at least one should relate to the holiday season - otherwise, your gifter will holiday-ify the story willy-nilly. Or, at least, they should.
genres: General categories that the story fits into, or vibes that you want from the art. Fanfiction.net lists different genres such as 'romance', 'hurt-comfort', 'friendship', 'mystery', 'angst', etc. Other 'genres' that you're likely to see are 'introspective', 'futurefic' (taking the characters and writing them in the future), and 'AU' (taking the storyline in a different direction by ignoring and adding different events, or putting the characters in a different setting entirely).
maximum rating: put the highest rating you are willing to recieve/write here. Basically movie rating G = fanfiction rating K, PG = K+, PG-13 = T, and M = R. NC-17 = explicit material; no one underage allowed.
notes: Any little notes you want on add on characterization, or something that you really want to see? These notes should be fairly general, but are good if you want to give your gifter a better idea of what you want to see. If you particularly want an NC-17 fic, or wrote M as a maximum but would prefer something more on the T side, please note that here.
making: List the medias you may be making your gift in.
receiving: List the medias that you would like to receive your gift in.
do-not-wants: List things that you do not want to see. OOC-ness (characters that are acting out of character), fluff, or angst are common here. If you're recieving a gift rated NC-17 (or M, or even T) you may want to list kinks that you find unappealing. You probably don't have to write up a whole list of what grosses you out, just a list of what grosses you out and is more likely to appear. For example, it's very unlikely that you'll have to list 'gore' as a do-not-want in an Ouran fanfiction. But 'incest' may be something you have to put down, especially if you feel that one of your prompts could be misconstrued (Kaoru and Hikaru, we're looking at you two).
back-up-gifter?: Write 'yes' (I want to be one) or 'no' (I do not want to be one). For more information on backup gifters, see the Rules and FAQ.
BAD EXAMPLE:
username: bad_kuma-chan
pairings/characters: Renge/Kyouya
story prompts: hanging Christmas lights
genres: whatever
maximum rating: whatever
notes: So Renge is still in love with Kyouya, even though they both graduated 7 years ago and she goes to see him at his house. But Haruhi is his live-in girlfriend! Renge stays overnight and the next morning Kyouya is hanging Christmas lights, so then he falls and breaks his leg. Renge tends to his wound and they drink hot chocolate together. Then Haruhi comes home and is a total bi-otch, and Kyouya realizes he's still in love with Renge and tells Haruhi to GTFO! Ten years later, Kyouya and Renge have three children named James, Albus Severus, and Lilly.
making: whatever
receiving: whatever
do-not-wants: whatever
back-up-gifter?: wait, what?
If it's not obvious, this is bad for A LOT of reasons. Most of it comes from not being specific enough - it's okay to pass on 'notes', if you want, but everything else has to be filled in. And when things are filled in, they aren't filled in with enough options to give the gifter some choice - they're pretty much stuck writing something about Renge, Kyouya, and Christmas lights. Even worse, bad_kuma-chan outlines the entire story, even the names of their children in ten years. How is anyone supposed to make a gift for bad_kuma-chan???
The only thing bad-kuma-chan is doing right is making the prompts holiday-themed. That's about it.
GOOD EXAMPLE:
username: good_kuma-chan
pairings/characters: Kyouya/Renge, Haruhi, The Host Club, Hunny and Mori (friendship), Hikaru and Kaoru (family/friends)
story prompts: hot chocolate and marshmallows, hanging Christmas lights, seven years after Ouran, someone gets hurt
genres: friendship, introspective, futurefic, romance, AU
maximum rating: NC-17
notes: I'd really like it if someone wrote me a Kyouya/Renge, but any of these is fine. I love the Host Club, so even if you're just writing about one or two characters, I'd love to see them all make a little appearance. If you're doing an AU, please make sure to keep their canon relationships intact.
making: fanfiction
receiving: fanfiction, art, graphics
do-not-wants: I can't write smut at all! I don't want fluff, or OOCness. If the gifter decides to make my gift NC-17, then please don't include noncon or bloodplay; they squick me out. Plain old sex is okay if necessary, but I want plot!
back-up-gifter?: No.
This request gives good variety for prompts and pairings/characters, and does a great job of specifying what kind of relationship is desired from each couple. The notes provide insight on the good_kuma-chan's choices that the gifter might find helpful. Because good_kuma-chan listed 'NC-17' as their maximum rating, they made sure to include specific kinks that they want kept out of their story, in case the gifter decides to write a sexy NC-17 as oppossed to a K, K+, T, or M (note that all options are open to them).
GENERAL:
username: Just put your username here. This is just a formality, because we PM you the prompts instead of using email.
pairings/characters: Romantic couplings use character names seperated by a slash (/). Fandom names (CharaNames)are usually understood. If you want to see two characters as friends or family, use their names seperated with an 'and'. Feel free to specify what kind of relationship you want to see, if you want to. Groupings of characters are also acceptable.
story prompts: Words, phrases, or scenarios that you want at the core of the story. Remember, at least one should relate to the holiday season - otherwise, your gifter will holiday-ify the story willy-nilly. Or, at least, they should.
genres: General categories that the story fits into, or vibes that you want from the art. Fanfiction.net lists different genres such as 'romance', 'hurt-comfort', 'friendship', 'mystery', 'angst', etc. Other 'genres' that you're likely to see are 'introspective', 'futurefic' (taking the characters and writing them in the future), and 'AU' (taking the storyline in a different direction by ignoring and adding different events, or putting the characters in a different setting entirely).
maximum rating: put the highest rating you are willing to recieve/write here. Basically movie rating G = fanfiction rating K, PG = K+, PG-13 = T, and M = R. NC-17 = explicit material; no one underage allowed.
notes: Any little notes you want on add on characterization, or something that you really want to see? These notes should be fairly general, but are good if you want to give your gifter a better idea of what you want to see. If you particularly want an NC-17 fic, or wrote M as a maximum but would prefer something more on the T side, please note that here.
making: List the medias you may be making your gift in.
receiving: List the medias that you would like to receive your gift in.
do-not-wants: List things that you do not want to see. OOC-ness (characters that are acting out of character), fluff, or angst are common here. If you're recieving a gift rated NC-17 (or M, or even T) you may want to list kinks that you find unappealing. You probably don't have to write up a whole list of what grosses you out, just a list of what grosses you out and is more likely to appear. For example, it's very unlikely that you'll have to list 'gore' as a do-not-want in an Ouran fanfiction. But 'incest' may be something you have to put down, especially if you feel that one of your prompts could be misconstrued (Kaoru and Hikaru, we're looking at you two).
back-up-gifter?: Write 'yes' (I want to be one) or 'no' (I do not want to be one). For more information on backup gifters, see the Rules and FAQ.
BAD EXAMPLE:
username: bad_kuma-chan
pairings/characters: Renge/Kyouya
story prompts: hanging Christmas lights
genres: whatever
maximum rating: whatever
notes: So Renge is still in love with Kyouya, even though they both graduated 7 years ago and she goes to see him at his house. But Haruhi is his live-in girlfriend! Renge stays overnight and the next morning Kyouya is hanging Christmas lights, so then he falls and breaks his leg. Renge tends to his wound and they drink hot chocolate together. Then Haruhi comes home and is a total bi-otch, and Kyouya realizes he's still in love with Renge and tells Haruhi to GTFO! Ten years later, Kyouya and Renge have three children named James, Albus Severus, and Lilly.
making: whatever
receiving: whatever
do-not-wants: whatever
back-up-gifter?: wait, what?
If it's not obvious, this is bad for A LOT of reasons. Most of it comes from not being specific enough - it's okay to pass on 'notes', if you want, but everything else has to be filled in. And when things are filled in, they aren't filled in with enough options to give the gifter some choice - they're pretty much stuck writing something about Renge, Kyouya, and Christmas lights. Even worse, bad_kuma-chan outlines the entire story, even the names of their children in ten years. How is anyone supposed to make a gift for bad_kuma-chan???
The only thing bad-kuma-chan is doing right is making the prompts holiday-themed. That's about it.
GOOD EXAMPLE:
username: good_kuma-chan
pairings/characters: Kyouya/Renge, Haruhi, The Host Club, Hunny and Mori (friendship), Hikaru and Kaoru (family/friends)
story prompts: hot chocolate and marshmallows, hanging Christmas lights, seven years after Ouran, someone gets hurt
genres: friendship, introspective, futurefic, romance, AU
maximum rating: NC-17
notes: I'd really like it if someone wrote me a Kyouya/Renge, but any of these is fine. I love the Host Club, so even if you're just writing about one or two characters, I'd love to see them all make a little appearance. If you're doing an AU, please make sure to keep their canon relationships intact.
making: fanfiction
receiving: fanfiction, art, graphics
do-not-wants: I can't write smut at all! I don't want fluff, or OOCness. If the gifter decides to make my gift NC-17, then please don't include noncon or bloodplay; they squick me out. Plain old sex is okay if necessary, but I want plot!
back-up-gifter?: No.
This request gives good variety for prompts and pairings/characters, and does a great job of specifying what kind of relationship is desired from each couple. The notes provide insight on the good_kuma-chan's choices that the gifter might find helpful. Because good_kuma-chan listed 'NC-17' as their maximum rating, they made sure to include specific kinks that they want kept out of their story, in case the gifter decides to write a sexy NC-17 as oppossed to a K, K+, T, or M (note that all options are open to them).