Welcome, Info and FAQ
Welcome to Universe, The!
The idea behind this community is to combine the best things about land comms with some other fun things about fandom and being on the internet. Think land comm on a larger scale, a comm with more diversity of possibilities. The inspiration comes from land comms (d'uh), Hogwarts is Home (despite my limited knowledge of it) and numerous other communities.
All sorts of fandoms are welcome, movies, tv, books, comics... Some challenges will be focused on a specific type but more often than not the choice is yours.
Originally, our basis of operation was going to be on dreamwidth - centeroftheuniverse@DW is the comm that was the start of the idea. And everything was going to be happening in both places but I still haven't worked out the logistics and I got tired of waiting for the epiphany to come. I've been having some naming issues as well and having the same comm names here and there is proving difficult. And so Universe comma The was born!
(If there is interest or if LJ makes another bad change there will be a DW counterpart for sure.)
THE BASICS:
What will I see here?
Lots of graphic and fic challenges, games, bingo, puzzles... Your typical land comm stuff. And then some. Reviews, recs, graphic and fic battles, watchalongs, memes, stamping... There will be more opportunities for socializing while earning points.
None of these will be obligatory for everyone, of course.
How do I sign up?
In order to become a resident of Universe, The you need to fill out a short form here and be accepted. That form includes stating your team preference. As your application is approved, you will be assigned to a team. I will try to give you your first choice team but sometimes that will not be possible or at least you will have to wait if you have only one team you're interested in being on.
Hold on, what is this land comm you keep talking about?
Land comms are either fandom-specific or more general communities in which members join teams and do challenges earning points for their teams. While each phase (anywhere between a few weeks and a few months long) has an official winner - the team with most points - it's really more about enjoying your fandom(s) with people who enjoy it/them as much as you do and getting to know people of LJ(/DW at a later point).
How will these activities and challenges work?
Each new activity/challenge will have its rules explained in its entry. Submissions not following the rules will not be accepted. Deadlines for specific activities will also be clearly stated in their entries. Manners of submissions will wary depending on the type of activity but directions will always be present. If you're unsure about an activity, the questions thread for that activity is the place for you.
Do I have to do everything? How do points work?
Most definitely not. You can choose the activities you wish to do. The more things you do, the more points you and your team get but no one expects you to do everything. That said, trying new things can be tons of fun so if you never tried something, don't be scared or worried, go for it! You will not be cut from the community for inactivity but around the 25th of each month everyone who hasn't entered anything during that month will get the inactive status. This status is voided as soon as you enter something. Inactive members will not be counted towards the total number of members for averaging challenge points.
Are there any specific rules regarding my behavior aside from rules for entering challenges?
Several easy ones.
- Treat all the members of the community and myself with respect.
- Don't bash anyone. People here, actors, directors, producers, writers, artists, musicians, characters, ANYONE. Just don't.
- Put all spoilers behind a cut. Two weeks after an episode has aired, 3 months after a movie has opened in the theaters, and always warn for major spoilers like character deaths or big reveals, even for older shows/movies.
- Always use warnings. NSFW, ratings, potential triggers, etc.
PAGE THE MOD
All you inquires go here. Comments are screened but if you prefer keeping your questions private and/or you're worried about me unscreening them to reply and someone reading them you can always PM me. I have outernet obligations, too, but I will always try to get back to you within a day at most.
And finally, who am I and why the need for an account solely for this purpose?
I've been on livejournal for many, many years now. I've been in land comms and I have friends who've been in land comms and I have friends I've met through land comms. I love my life here on lj and the community of people in land comm circles. But I prefer keeping my el-jay persona separate from this mod persona. And as I'm hoping this community will expand it seems fitting to name myself just what I am, only the founder of this universe.
The idea behind this community is to combine the best things about land comms with some other fun things about fandom and being on the internet. Think land comm on a larger scale, a comm with more diversity of possibilities. The inspiration comes from land comms (d'uh), Hogwarts is Home (despite my limited knowledge of it) and numerous other communities.
All sorts of fandoms are welcome, movies, tv, books, comics... Some challenges will be focused on a specific type but more often than not the choice is yours.
Originally, our basis of operation was going to be on dreamwidth - centeroftheuniverse@DW is the comm that was the start of the idea. And everything was going to be happening in both places but I still haven't worked out the logistics and I got tired of waiting for the epiphany to come. I've been having some naming issues as well and having the same comm names here and there is proving difficult. And so Universe comma The was born!
(If there is interest or if LJ makes another bad change there will be a DW counterpart for sure.)
THE BASICS:
What will I see here?
Lots of graphic and fic challenges, games, bingo, puzzles... Your typical land comm stuff. And then some. Reviews, recs, graphic and fic battles, watchalongs, memes, stamping... There will be more opportunities for socializing while earning points.
None of these will be obligatory for everyone, of course.
How do I sign up?
In order to become a resident of Universe, The you need to fill out a short form here and be accepted. That form includes stating your team preference. As your application is approved, you will be assigned to a team. I will try to give you your first choice team but sometimes that will not be possible or at least you will have to wait if you have only one team you're interested in being on.
Hold on, what is this land comm you keep talking about?
Land comms are either fandom-specific or more general communities in which members join teams and do challenges earning points for their teams. While each phase (anywhere between a few weeks and a few months long) has an official winner - the team with most points - it's really more about enjoying your fandom(s) with people who enjoy it/them as much as you do and getting to know people of LJ(/DW at a later point).
How will these activities and challenges work?
Each new activity/challenge will have its rules explained in its entry. Submissions not following the rules will not be accepted. Deadlines for specific activities will also be clearly stated in their entries. Manners of submissions will wary depending on the type of activity but directions will always be present. If you're unsure about an activity, the questions thread for that activity is the place for you.
Do I have to do everything? How do points work?
Most definitely not. You can choose the activities you wish to do. The more things you do, the more points you and your team get but no one expects you to do everything. That said, trying new things can be tons of fun so if you never tried something, don't be scared or worried, go for it! You will not be cut from the community for inactivity but around the 25th of each month everyone who hasn't entered anything during that month will get the inactive status. This status is voided as soon as you enter something. Inactive members will not be counted towards the total number of members for averaging challenge points.
Are there any specific rules regarding my behavior aside from rules for entering challenges?
Several easy ones.
- Treat all the members of the community and myself with respect.
- Don't bash anyone. People here, actors, directors, producers, writers, artists, musicians, characters, ANYONE. Just don't.
- Put all spoilers behind a cut. Two weeks after an episode has aired, 3 months after a movie has opened in the theaters, and always warn for major spoilers like character deaths or big reveals, even for older shows/movies.
- Always use warnings. NSFW, ratings, potential triggers, etc.
PAGE THE MOD
All you inquires go here. Comments are screened but if you prefer keeping your questions private and/or you're worried about me unscreening them to reply and someone reading them you can always PM me. I have outernet obligations, too, but I will always try to get back to you within a day at most.
And finally, who am I and why the need for an account solely for this purpose?
I've been on livejournal for many, many years now. I've been in land comms and I have friends who've been in land comms and I have friends I've met through land comms. I love my life here on lj and the community of people in land comm circles. But I prefer keeping my el-jay persona separate from this mod persona. And as I'm hoping this community will expand it seems fitting to name myself just what I am, only the founder of this universe.