FAQ
1. What can I post?
Fiction of any kind. The emphasis here is likely to be on fanfiction, but you are welcome to post your own original work, fandom AUs, and crossovers. All ratings are allowed, but posts with explicit NC-17/adult content or extreme violence to the point that would earn a similar rating should be friends-locked for your protection and the community's, and appropriate warnings for subject matter are appreciated. Use your own discretion, here.
1. (a.) What about RPF (real-person fiction, i.e. celebrityfic, bandfic, etc?)
I... have not decided, yet. If allowed, Real-Person Fic will require a disclaimer of the sort that most real-person fic communities use to state that the work in question is a fictional representation, etc, etc. If there's a great demand for it, I'll probably allow it, in keeping with the community's "I don't care what you write, but be sensible with your disclaimers" policy.
2. Is there a deadline for when I must finish my table or how often I must post?
Not only no, but hell no. Your moderator is an epic failure at keeping up with deadlines, and is in no position to enforce them upon anyone else. The only thing inactivity will get you is a gentle nudge if you've been a part of the community for, say, six months and haven't ever been heard from. Even then, you will not be booted from the community for inactivity.
3. Can I join the community just to read other people's fics?
Of course! There's no need to sign up for a claim if you just want to enjoy the fic!
4. Can I claim a fandom/character/pairing that's already been claimed?
Yes! The only way this will ever change is that if for some reason we get a huge influx of people all claiming the exact. same. thing. That isn't very likely to happen, but do aim for some diversity when choosing your claim, as it makes the community more interesting to read.
5. Are there minimum/maximum word counts?
Not at present. If you want to make your table consist entirely of 100-word drabbles or haiku, go for it! Once again, if everyone starts doing this, people will be gently encouraged to write longer fics, but I've never seen the point of minimum word counts.
6. Do I have to post the fics in order as they appear in the prompt table?
No. Post them in any order you please.
7. Should my posts have a header?
Now that you mention it, yes! I'll try to put this somewhere people can easily find it outside of the FAQ post, but the following format is fairly standard and makes things a great deal easier for those who are browsing through fics:
Title:
Fandom:
Characters:
Prompt:
Rating:
Brief Summary: (emphasis on brief, you don't need more than a line or two.)
Author's Notes: (include any warnings here, and any other random commentary you'd like to give the readers.)
8. Do I have to lj-cut?
It is courteous to lj-cut for longer fics (say ~500 words+), spoilers for very new/still in progress canons, and disturbing/adult material. If the community grows to a point where it gets a lot of traffic per day, I will request LJ cuts for all fics for the sake of keeping posts on the front page for as long as possible. Until/unless that happens, use your own judgment regarding courteous cut-tag behavior.
9. What if I want to drop my claim?
Leave a note in the claims post.
9. (a.) Can I pick up a claim that I've dropped?
Yes, but you have to leave another note in the claims post saying that you are claiming it so that you may be re-added to the list.
10. What's the deal with tagging?
The tagging system is explained in detail here, and any questions regarding it should be left in the comments of that post.
11. So what's this "extra credit" thing? Should I be worried? Are you grading me on this?!
Nah. Basically it'll be a completely optional excuse for you to write a bunch of tl;dr meta on your claim of choice. More details to follow once I've decided precisely how often and how structured the "extra credit" posts are going to be.
12. What do I get when I finish my whole table?
... a deep sense of personal satisfaction?
Oh, all right. I'll make you a shiny banner that you can display somewhere in your journal.
13. You have a lot of guidelines but not many rules. How the heck do I get kicked out of this place?
Flaming other members. Stirring up wank. Being a general asshat.
14. I have more questions that aren't answered here!
Leave them as a comment to this post and they will be answered, and if necessary, added into the FAQ.
15. But I NEED to contact you, viridian, for moderator-type stuff right now!
If this is the case (example: someone is being an asshat to you and you don't want to start a flamewar in the community -- please contact me rather than starting flamewars, by the way), email me at merit.mod@gmail.com, or ping me on AIM at frozen illyria.
Fiction of any kind. The emphasis here is likely to be on fanfiction, but you are welcome to post your own original work, fandom AUs, and crossovers. All ratings are allowed, but posts with explicit NC-17/adult content or extreme violence to the point that would earn a similar rating should be friends-locked for your protection and the community's, and appropriate warnings for subject matter are appreciated. Use your own discretion, here.
1. (a.) What about RPF (real-person fiction, i.e. celebrityfic, bandfic, etc?)
I... have not decided, yet. If allowed, Real-Person Fic will require a disclaimer of the sort that most real-person fic communities use to state that the work in question is a fictional representation, etc, etc. If there's a great demand for it, I'll probably allow it, in keeping with the community's "I don't care what you write, but be sensible with your disclaimers" policy.
2. Is there a deadline for when I must finish my table or how often I must post?
Not only no, but hell no. Your moderator is an epic failure at keeping up with deadlines, and is in no position to enforce them upon anyone else. The only thing inactivity will get you is a gentle nudge if you've been a part of the community for, say, six months and haven't ever been heard from. Even then, you will not be booted from the community for inactivity.
3. Can I join the community just to read other people's fics?
Of course! There's no need to sign up for a claim if you just want to enjoy the fic!
4. Can I claim a fandom/character/pairing that's already been claimed?
Yes! The only way this will ever change is that if for some reason we get a huge influx of people all claiming the exact. same. thing. That isn't very likely to happen, but do aim for some diversity when choosing your claim, as it makes the community more interesting to read.
5. Are there minimum/maximum word counts?
Not at present. If you want to make your table consist entirely of 100-word drabbles or haiku, go for it! Once again, if everyone starts doing this, people will be gently encouraged to write longer fics, but I've never seen the point of minimum word counts.
6. Do I have to post the fics in order as they appear in the prompt table?
No. Post them in any order you please.
7. Should my posts have a header?
Now that you mention it, yes! I'll try to put this somewhere people can easily find it outside of the FAQ post, but the following format is fairly standard and makes things a great deal easier for those who are browsing through fics:
Title:
Fandom:
Characters:
Prompt:
Rating:
Brief Summary: (emphasis on brief, you don't need more than a line or two.)
Author's Notes: (include any warnings here, and any other random commentary you'd like to give the readers.)
8. Do I have to lj-cut?
It is courteous to lj-cut for longer fics (say ~500 words+), spoilers for very new/still in progress canons, and disturbing/adult material. If the community grows to a point where it gets a lot of traffic per day, I will request LJ cuts for all fics for the sake of keeping posts on the front page for as long as possible. Until/unless that happens, use your own judgment regarding courteous cut-tag behavior.
9. What if I want to drop my claim?
Leave a note in the claims post.
9. (a.) Can I pick up a claim that I've dropped?
Yes, but you have to leave another note in the claims post saying that you are claiming it so that you may be re-added to the list.
10. What's the deal with tagging?
The tagging system is explained in detail here, and any questions regarding it should be left in the comments of that post.
11. So what's this "extra credit" thing? Should I be worried? Are you grading me on this?!
Nah. Basically it'll be a completely optional excuse for you to write a bunch of tl;dr meta on your claim of choice. More details to follow once I've decided precisely how often and how structured the "extra credit" posts are going to be.
12. What do I get when I finish my whole table?
... a deep sense of personal satisfaction?
Oh, all right. I'll make you a shiny banner that you can display somewhere in your journal.
13. You have a lot of guidelines but not many rules. How the heck do I get kicked out of this place?
Flaming other members. Stirring up wank. Being a general asshat.
14. I have more questions that aren't answered here!
Leave them as a comment to this post and they will be answered, and if necessary, added into the FAQ.
15. But I NEED to contact you, viridian, for moderator-type stuff right now!
If this is the case (example: someone is being an asshat to you and you don't want to start a flamewar in the community -- please contact me rather than starting flamewars, by the way), email me at merit.mod@gmail.com, or ping me on AIM at frozen illyria.