the catchall welcome post
Hello, everyone, and welcome to hp_left_field, a challenge community unlike any other you've seen before! The purpose of this comm is to challenge and inspire you; we want you to challenge the way you think about fandom, the way you choose what you read and write, and inspire you to write something that you never thought you could, or would. Too often we get stuck in a rut - we know what we like and of course stick to it. I've always been an advocate of reading everything you can whenever you can, because you don't know for sure that you're not going to like something until you try it, and you might end up suprising yourself.
Say you're a devoted Remus/Sirius fan (I am), but suddenly the ship isn't as interesting as it used to be; you still love the puppies but you're aching for a taste of something new. Maybe the dark attraction of Snape/Hermione gets you all hot and bothered, but you've read the same cliches so many times that your passion for the ship is only lukewarm. Maybe you read a lot of fic but never felt like you could write it. Or perhaps there's a pairing that you naturally avoid, because you find it too impossible/gross/strange/overdone, or you've just never much thought about it. Or you've grown weary of all the who-did-what-to-whom of shipping, and want to try your hand at genfic to mix things up.
Whatever your tastes, whatever your reason for wanting to try something new - hp_left_field is an open-minded community that invites you to push your boundaries and take an unexpected walk on the wild side - just because you can.
teh rules
We don't want too many rules, considering that we're a community founded specifically to break them, but I do expect everyone to have some common decency and respect. That means no flaming, no ship-bashing, no name calling, no rudeness, and so on. I'm sure you get the idea. I want this to be a place where we can all stretch our writing muscles and our minds with new ideas - this might mean that we bump elbows with new people, but we certainly don't have to butt heads. Debates are bound to arise, and we welcome them, but we ask you to think before you type, and heed a word of advice from Thumper's mum - if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
I also ask that you place all fic/art/whatever behind a cut, and label your entry with titles/authors/ratings/summary/any applicable warnings. This a)keeps your friends page from being miles long, and b)keeps other people from being offended by something they might not want to read; this way, the responsibility is on the person who clicks the lj-cut - if they don't like something, that's their problem, not yours. If you don't like it, don't click. Simple, eh?
Thirdly (and this is corny, but I don't care), we want you to have fun. We want you to participate in the challenges because they light a (figurative) fire in your brain, not because you feel like you have to. Deadlines don't exist around here - we prefer to call them guidelines. Take it from The World's Greatest Procrasinator(tm), nothing kills the joy of writing like knowing you have to have it in by nine o'clock the next morning. If you try something new and you don't like it, c'est la vie - try something else! We want to get you excited about the myriad possibilites that fandom offers, and to sample everything that's out there. :)
contact info
If you have any question, from "why is the sky blue" (arsed if I know), to "what's the html for this", to "can you help me figure out this plotline", feel free to email your friendly mods at lemonginger@gmail.com or scionofgodric@ yahoo.com, or leave a comment here or at my journal (justholdstill) and we'll do my best to help you out. If we can't, we'll pass you along to someone who can.
about the challenges
I'm going to do my best to put one out monthly - things like a Team Challenge, where if you generally write alone, you pair up with another person (or three other people!) to co-write a fic, and vice-versa, or an AU Challenge, wherein you take your favorite characters or pairing and turn their worlds upside down. I'm also thinking of doing a weekly prompt list. Like I said, though, don't feel obligated to follow what I give you. We welcome whatever you want to show us, whenever.
I'm open to any and all ideas, so if you have some good ones, just leave me a comment in this post and I'll see what I can do!
Remember, fandom doesn't exist in a vacuum (*is suddenly imagining a bunch of fangirls sitting inside a Dirt Devil*), and though I'm working on pimping this comm out, these things prosper best by word of mouth, so if you like the concept, make a loud obnoxious post in your journal, and tell a friend or five about hp_left_field!
Kate
Say you're a devoted Remus/Sirius fan (I am), but suddenly the ship isn't as interesting as it used to be; you still love the puppies but you're aching for a taste of something new. Maybe the dark attraction of Snape/Hermione gets you all hot and bothered, but you've read the same cliches so many times that your passion for the ship is only lukewarm. Maybe you read a lot of fic but never felt like you could write it. Or perhaps there's a pairing that you naturally avoid, because you find it too impossible/gross/strange/overdone, or you've just never much thought about it. Or you've grown weary of all the who-did-what-to-whom of shipping, and want to try your hand at genfic to mix things up.
Whatever your tastes, whatever your reason for wanting to try something new - hp_left_field is an open-minded community that invites you to push your boundaries and take an unexpected walk on the wild side - just because you can.
teh rules
We don't want too many rules, considering that we're a community founded specifically to break them, but I do expect everyone to have some common decency and respect. That means no flaming, no ship-bashing, no name calling, no rudeness, and so on. I'm sure you get the idea. I want this to be a place where we can all stretch our writing muscles and our minds with new ideas - this might mean that we bump elbows with new people, but we certainly don't have to butt heads. Debates are bound to arise, and we welcome them, but we ask you to think before you type, and heed a word of advice from Thumper's mum - if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
I also ask that you place all fic/art/whatever behind a cut, and label your entry with titles/authors/ratings/summary/any applicable warnings. This a)keeps your friends page from being miles long, and b)keeps other people from being offended by something they might not want to read; this way, the responsibility is on the person who clicks the lj-cut - if they don't like something, that's their problem, not yours. If you don't like it, don't click. Simple, eh?
Thirdly (and this is corny, but I don't care), we want you to have fun. We want you to participate in the challenges because they light a (figurative) fire in your brain, not because you feel like you have to. Deadlines don't exist around here - we prefer to call them guidelines. Take it from The World's Greatest Procrasinator(tm), nothing kills the joy of writing like knowing you have to have it in by nine o'clock the next morning. If you try something new and you don't like it, c'est la vie - try something else! We want to get you excited about the myriad possibilites that fandom offers, and to sample everything that's out there. :)
contact info
If you have any question, from "why is the sky blue" (arsed if I know), to "what's the html for this", to "can you help me figure out this plotline", feel free to email your friendly mods at lemonginger@gmail.com or scionofgodric@ yahoo.com, or leave a comment here or at my journal (justholdstill) and we'll do my best to help you out. If we can't, we'll pass you along to someone who can.
about the challenges
I'm going to do my best to put one out monthly - things like a Team Challenge, where if you generally write alone, you pair up with another person (or three other people!) to co-write a fic, and vice-versa, or an AU Challenge, wherein you take your favorite characters or pairing and turn their worlds upside down. I'm also thinking of doing a weekly prompt list. Like I said, though, don't feel obligated to follow what I give you. We welcome whatever you want to show us, whenever.
I'm open to any and all ideas, so if you have some good ones, just leave me a comment in this post and I'll see what I can do!
Remember, fandom doesn't exist in a vacuum (*is suddenly imagining a bunch of fangirls sitting inside a Dirt Devil*), and though I'm working on pimping this comm out, these things prosper best by word of mouth, so if you like the concept, make a loud obnoxious post in your journal, and tell a friend or five about hp_left_field!
Kate