The 2013 Rules and Sign-ups Post: "Did he have any friends, enemies, any relationships?"
This May brings the twenty-first anniversary of "Dark Knight," Forever Knight's premiere, and also the seventeenth anniversary of “Last Knight,” its finale. We're still here, sharing our well-loved vampire-homicide-cop show with one another. Let's celebrate!
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Sign-ups for the 2013 FKFicFest/
fkficfest ficathon are now open! Let’s revel in some neat new Forever Knight fanfiction and fun! Please read the rules in this post and ponder your prompts. To sign-up, comment on this post (on LJ or DW) by Friday, May 17 (11:59 PM Pacific Time). Once you post your prompt slate, it's final; please don't edit it. Please do promote the game to your friends!
Comments are screened. I'll unscreen any questions and answer them for all to see. Sign-ups will remain screened. Please ask any questions separately from your sign-up.
What’s new for 2013? The writing stage of the game is longer, getting the prompts out before US Memorial Day so that players may write over the holiday weekend if desired. Otherwise, game play is the same as last year! (However, door-prize drabbles/party-favors are discontinued.)
Timeline | Mod | Rules | Posting | Signing Up
Timeline
- 4/07: Sign-ups open.
- 5/17: Sign-ups close.
- 5/20: Prompt assignments sent.
- 6/27: Deadline to drop out without any fuss.
- 7/27: Stories due.
- 7/28: Pinch-hitter assignments sent.
- 7/29: Stories begin revealing.
- 8/04: Pinch-hitter stories due. (This date may shift.)
All deadlines are 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
No stories will be revealed until all stories are in or assigned to a pinch-hitter. With accessibility in mind, stories will probably be revealed one per day up to ten players, and two per day above ten players. Stories will release in an order determined by the mod to help maximize readability and fun. (For example, very long stories will be released singly on weekend days, and stories released on the same day will be of different genres/ratings when possible.) Release order may or may not reflect submission order.
Meet Your Mod
Your mod is Brightknightie (Knightie Amy). You may know me from the PSU email lists in days of yore, or LJ/DW/AO3 more recently. All FKFicFest admin statements come from me. Please contact me directly at my LJ or DW accounts, or my personal email address (the same one I’ve used on the FK lists since '99). The FKFicFestMod account/address won't be used this round. (As an aside, I hate surprises. If something in the game is awry, please let me try to help in advance! Please don't spring a surprise.)
Amilyn (NatPacker Amy) retains the community passwords and permissions in case of an emergency.
Rules
- Game Play Summary -
Each player (1) submits a slate of three prompts, (2) receives in return a slate of three prompts submitted by someone else, (3) writes one story of at least 1,000 words (or draws a picture of at least 500x500 pixels) to fulfill any one of the three prompts received, (4) receives one story (or picture) that fulfills one of the three prompts submitted, and (5) FK is celebrated and a wonderful time is had by all.
Each day of the festival, the mod will (1) reveal one or two stories from the community’s AO3 collection, and (2) announce those stories on LJ and DW. (ForKni-L announcements may be every second or third day instead of daily.)
- The Rules FAQ -
- So that's three prompts, but only one story/picture?
Yes. Each player submits and receives three prompts, but writes only one story (or draws one picture). Writing more than one story is permitted, but is not required, expected or typical.
- What are the three kinds of prompts?
Each player must submit one gen, one pairing, and one wildcard prompt. This gives the writer/artist options. Here, we use these definitions:- "Gen" is primarily about anything except romantic and/or sexual relationships or activities. So stories that are primarily about building a friendship, solving a crime, strengthening a family, finding a cure, saving a life, taking a life, getting a haircut . . . all these are "gen." (Yes, romance and sex may be mentioned in gen stories. But in a gen story, those are minor elements.)
- "Pairing" is primarily about romantic and/or sexual relationships or activities. So stories that are primarily about finding love, losing love, forbidding love, having sex, missing sex, adapting sex, getting married . . . all these count as "pairing." (Yes, by all means, mysteries may be solved, themes explored, and haircuts gotten in pairing stories. Pairing stories are not necessarily "plot, what plot?"! Although they may be, if you and your recipient would like that.) M/f, m/m and f/f pairings are all equally allowed, rated and respected in FKFicFest.
- "Wildcard" may be anything you like. You may list another gen prompt, or another pairing prompt, or something combining the two. (This would also be the place for a threesome or moresome request, rather than under "pairing.")
Please note that an ampersand ("&") designates a gen combination, and a slash ("/") designates a pairing combination. (For example, "Nick & Lacroix" is a gen, Cousin-of-the-Knight prompt, while "Nick/Lacroix" is a pairing, Unnamed Faction prompt.)
- How long must/may a story be?
All stories must be a minimum of 1,000 words. There is no maximum length for stories posted directly to the AO3.
However, any stories posted to LJ/DW (instead of directly to the AO3) remain subject to the previous maximum of five total posts (which, on LJ, is the maximum permitted in a paid community’s queue from a single poster). LJ posts may be up to 65K bytes in size (roughly 65K characters), and DW 300K (roughly 300K characters). Note that this includes formatting code as well as text. The more formatting you use, the fewer words you can fit.
- What about beta-reading?
Please do have your story beta-read before posting! Please revise and edit! Please show off your great ideas to their best advantage with good spelling, grammar, punctuation, fact-checking and canon-checking!
There will be a post to help beta-readers and writers to find each other. Your mod is not able to individually match beta readers with writers and is officially unavailable for beta-reading purposes -- although she may, or may not, individually volunteer when the time comes just like everyone else.
- CANS O' WORMS! What is forbidden?
- Underage Sex. No character who is or appears to be under the age of eighteen may be depicted "on screen" in sexual activity with anyone. If a plot requires such activity, it must take place "off screen." (For example, sex scenes with Divia are prohibited.)
- Human Incest. No characters with human family consanguinity within the third degree may be depicted "on screen" in sexual activity with each other. If a plot requires such activity, it must take place "off screen." (For example, Richard/Natalie is prohibited.)
- Crossovers. No crossovers. However, you can bring in other works the way canon did, if needed. Emily Weiss of "Stranger Than Fiction" is analogous to Anne Rice. "Curiouser and Curiouser" is all over Alice in Wonderland. The Hound of the Baskervilles originates in "Blind Faith." Nick and Lacroix both quote classic literature, and Nick and Natalie watch old movies. (For example, Schanke meeting Major Nelson is prohibited, but Schanke watching I Dream of Jeannie is allowed.)
- Real People. No real private individuals. But public figures may play roles in your story consistent with their accepted roles in history and the example of canon (for example, Saint Joan in "For I Have Sinned," Rasputin in "Strings," Hitler in "Jane Doe," Jack the Ripper in "Bad Blood," and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in "Blind Faith").
- Trolling or Flaming or Offensive Prompts. If the mod believes that you have trolled or flamed, you will be banned. This community is pro-Forever Knight, diversity, tolerance, kindness, respect, truth, justice, and the Canadian Way … okay, yes, that's just the Knightie Creed. But you know the drill! Constructive criticism is fine. Bashing is not.
- What if I have to drop out?
Sometimes, Real Life problems get in the way of fannish commitments. However, dropping out means that we have to scramble for a back-up writer. Thus, the game has deadlines and penalties.
If you know you are going to drop out, please do so by one month before the due date. The deadline to drop out without any penalty or recriminations is June 27, 2013. However, if something unavoidable comes up in the final month, please talk to the mod as soon as possible! Don’t just vanish! Your mod will want to work something out with you, but she can only do that if you get in touch and stay in touch. (Seriously, do not provoke your mod by surprising her. She'll work with you if you'll work with her.) Anyone defaulting will not be allowed to participate in future FKFicFest ficathons.
- When can I post my story elsewhere?
Please wait until after the last story is revealed in the ficathon before also posting your story to fkfic-l, your blog, or elsewhere. We're hoping that people will come to the community (via LJ, DW or the AO3) to read your story, and stick around to read others' stories, too! So if you feel like it, by all means, please do point out your story when it is revealed so that your friends can find both your story and the rest of the ficathon! But please wait until the game's "masterlist" goes up to post elsewhere.
- What if I don’t have an AO3 account?
Ask the mod for an invitation. She has one for every FKFicFest player! The AO3 is very easy to use, and using it gains our ficathon many advantages. (However, if you have a personal reason for avoiding the AO3, you may post to LJ or DW. If you need this exception, please discuss it with the mod in advance.)
- How will the “announcements” to LJ and DW work?
As in 2012, each author and/or the mod will post an "announcement" to the LJ and DW communities with the story header information and a link to the story on the AO3.- Please do write your own announcement in the format below and post it to the community queue on LJ, DW or both. (Posting it yourself means that any comments on it go directly to your own email.)
- The mod will release your announcement(s) on LJ and DW after she releases your story on the AO3.
- If you do not create an announcement for LJ or DW or both, that’s okay; your mod will create and post them for you.
- How will visual artists participate?
As part of signing up, all players will state (1) whether they wish to play as a writer or as a visual artist, and (2) whether they prefer to receive a story or a picture in answer to their prompts. (These preferences are for the mod’s eyes only. Most people will receive stories, regardless of preference, because most players will be writers.)
All rules (including content rules) apply to visual artists exactly as to writers, with these medium-specific variations:- The picture must be created from scratch, not from screenshots. That is, all forms of drawing and painting (whether by hand, mouse or other tool) are eligible, but manips and collages (which begin with existing images) are not eligible. (Your mod makes manips and collages herself. This is not a slam at those art forms, but a parameter for gameplay.)
- The image must be at least 500x500 pixels. There is no maximum.
- The image must be hosted on the artist’s own webspace, somewhere the mod can see and confirm it in advance, but where it will not draw attention in advance that would spoil the reveal. (LJ and DW scrapbooks are okay!)
- Using an “img” tag and an “a” tag, the AO3 post should display/embed a thumbnail that links to the full-sized image. (People do this with vids all the time. No reason we can’t do it with stills.)
- Please note that comic strips and animation drawn/painted from scratch are eligible, but vids from existing footage are not.
- What's with all the jargon? -or- Help! I don't know the factions!
Faction/affiliation names and other jargon from the PSU lists and the show itself are some of the joys of FK fandom! However, our special FK language has evolved through generations of fans. In our prompts, we may want to translate for each other, to define "Immortal Beloved" or "IB" as "Nick/Janette," for example. For more information on factions, check out the detailed "Factions" entry on the FK Wiki. Or … ask! - What happened to door-prize drabbles?
The door-prize drabbles ("party favors") were invented at the end of our first game to recognize and reward the players who submitted their stories on time. In our most recent game, a player related that door-prize drabbles made players feel bad. That was never the intention! I have therefore discontinued them.
(I trust that this won't lead to late submissions. On-time players make the mod's task so much easier!)
Post your story directly to the AO3. Posting directly to our community collection on the AO3 gives us many advantages, including the downloading in ebook format, consolidating story queues, and ducking potential technical problems on the journaling communities. Perhaps the most popular advantage, however, is that authors are able to edit their stories while they sit in the queue! If you find a last-minute typo, or have a last-minute inspiration, you can get right in there before your story is released!
When you finish your story, please post it to the 2013 FKFicFest collection on the AO3. It is very important to add your story to the collection when you post! If you do not add it to the FKFicFest collection, your story will be visible to everyone immediately, instead of veiled as a “mystery story” until its turn comes. Please note that the parent FKFicFest collection is permanently closed; stories should always post to the applicable annual sub-collection (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013).
Steps:
- Click the “Post New” button.
- In the “Tags” block, select a rating and set any applicable warnings. Enter Forever Knight as the fandom and identify the correct category (gen, m/f, etc.). Further tagging (characters, relationships, etc.) is recommended but not required.
- In the “Preface” block, enter your title and identify yourself as the author. A summary and notes are recommended but not required. (Note that clicking one of the two checkboxes for notes locations opens the text box for notes content.)
In the “Associations” block, enter “2013_FKFicFest” for “Post to Collections / Challenges.” THIS IS VITAL! Then enter your recipient’s AO3 username for “Gift this work to.” Select any of the other options that apply; don’t forget the “This work has multiple chapters” option, if applicable.
- In the “Work Text” block, paste your story. Note that you may work in “plain text with limited HTML” or click the “Rich Text” button.
- In the “Post” block, consider using “Preview” before posting. Then post! Your story will be visible to you and your mod, but everyone else will see a “mystery work” until the reveal.
When the fest starts, your mod will reveal one or two stories per day (depending on the number of players and the length of the stories). Many multi-fandom ficathons release all their stories at once in a great waterfall of fiction, but since we're all-FK here, we’ll enjoy a steady stream of stories and hope everyone finds time to read and comment on many of them!
Don’t use the AO3? Ask your mod for an invitation! She has one for every FKFicFest player who does not already have an AO3 account, and it’s all very easy. (If you have a personal reason for not using the AO3, you may post to LJ or DW instead, but you must let the mod know in advance.)
Post your announcement to LJ and/or DW. Please write your own announcement in the format given below, and post it to the community queue on LJ, DW or both. The mod will release your announcement(s) on LJ and DW after she releases your story on the AO3. If you do not create an announcement for LJ or DW or both, that’s okay; your mod will create and post them for you, based on the header information in your AO3 post.
Remember that LJ and DW use different username tags (“lj user=brightknightie” vs “user name=brightknightie”). If that’s confusing, just write the usernames in plain text.
Steps:
- Give your announcement post a subject line with your title, rating and type (gen or pairing).
- In the header text block, list at least your title, author, recipient, beta-reader, rating, and any warnings. (Any more is up to you.) The template is below, so you can copy-and-paste, and fill it in. Please note that we use the "white on white" warnings format, so that people can choose to avoid spoilers.
Title: Author: Beta-Reader: Recipient: Prompt: Length: Rating/Warnings: InsertRatingHere. Highlight to view: * InsertWarningHere *
- After (under) the header block, type the title again, and link that to your story post on the AO3. You may want to put this link in bold, or center it on the page.
- Select the applicable tags.
- Check that your post is not friends-locked, and that it has the appropriate “adult content” setting if applicable.
- Submit the post to the community.
The community is set to moderated posting on both LJ and DW. Your announcement post will go into the queue, and will stay there, invisible and unreachable, until released by the mod. (The mod can also delete posts from the queue as needed.)
- Example Announcement Subject Lines and Headers -
If Natalie were playing in this ficathon, her announcement post subject line and header block text might look like this: If Janette were playing in this ficathon, her announcement post subject line and header block text might look like this: "Cause of Life" by Natlamb (PG, Gen)
Title: "Cause of Life"
Author: Natlamb
Beta-Reader: Raven2U
Recipient: Plantsaretheanswer
Prompt: Nick & Natalie. "It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive" -- Springsteen, "Badlands"
Length: 1,300 words
Rating/Warnings: PG-13. Highlight to view: * No Warnings *
Summary: The case of a murdered baseball player gives Nick hope, Natalie an idea, and Schanke indigestion.
“ Cause of Life” "A High-Walled Garden" by Raven2U (NC-17, m/f)
Title: "A High-Walled Garden"
Author: Raven2U
Beta-Reader: Littlebear
Recipient: DarkButton
Prompt: Tracy/Vachon. Tracy's interest in past lives surprises Vachon.
Length: 3,481 words
Characters: Tracy, Vachon, Nick, Urs, Reese, Natalie, Others
Rating/Warnings: NC-17. Highlight to view: * explicit sex, explicit violence, character death *
“ A High-Walled Garden”
Tip: You can post your announcement to your own journal -- set “private,” so no one else can see it! -- before posting it to the community queue. This lets you check its appearance and link.
Signing Up
To sign up for this game, reply to this post with your answers to the little form below. Please list a reasonable number of characters for your writer/artist, and remember that your writer/artist may also include any other character(s) he or she wishes to write/draw.
(There's space to state what you'd rather not receive or create. Please do not bash other characters, pairings or factions; please do say clearly when they don’t happen to be your cup of Ribena.)
The Sign-Up Template:
LJ Username: DW Username: AO3 Username: Email Address: Are you playing as a Writer or as a Visual Artist? ~~~~~~~~~~ FOR YOUR WRITER/ARTIST TO SEE Gen Request Characters: Prompt: Pairing Request Characters: Prompt: Wildcard Request Characters: Prompt: Faction/Affiliation or Favorite Character: Preferred Ratings Range (G/PG/PG13/R/NC17): Five Things You LOVE To Read: Five Things You AVOID Reading: Optional: If you have a standing "Dear Author" letter, share its URL here: ~~~~~~~~~~ FOR YOUR MOD TO USE Three Things You Will NOT Create: Three Things You LOVE To Create: Are you willing to be a back-up writer/artist? Do you prefer to receive a story or a picture in reply to your prompts? ~~~~~~~~~~
- Example Sign-Ups -
If Nick were playing in this ficathon, his sign-up might look like this: If Lacroix were playing in this ficathon, his sign-up might look like this: LJ Username: NBK
DW Username: not applicable
AO3 Username: NickBK
Email Address: nknight@metropd.gov.ca
Are you playing as a Writer or as a Visual Artist? Visual Artist
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FOR YOUR WRITER TO SEE
Gen Request
Characters: Natalie, Schanke, Nick
Prompt: “True is it that we have seen better days . . . therefore sit you down in gentleness” -- Shakespeare
Pairing Request
Characters: Marian/Nick
Prompt: What if Marian (from “Blackwing”) had lived?
Wildcard Request
Characters: Lacroix
Prompt: Nero, Charlemagne and Genghis Kahn
Faction/Affiliation or Favorite Character: Die-Hard (Refuse to Choose)
Preferred Ratings Range: No higher than PG-13, please.
Five Things You LOVE To Read: angst with hope, Nick regaining mortality, historical fiction, spiritual struggles, automotive trivia
Five Things You AVOID Reading: non-con, evil triumphant, Nick embracing vampirism, Valentine (Lacroix/Natalie), Lacroix inside Nick's mind
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FOR YOUR MOD TO USE
Three Things You Will NOT Create: non-con, humor, Nick killing people he loves
Three Things You LOVE To Create: introspection, baseball, characters who are musicians or artists like Nick
Are you willing to be a back-up writer/artist? No
Do you prefer to receive a story or a picture in reply to your prompts? Story
~~~~~~~~~~ LJ/DW/AO3 Username: Rosebud
Email Address: rosebud@freenet.to.ca
Are you playing as a Writer or as a Visual Artist? Writer
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FOR YOUR WRITER TO SEE
Gen Request
Characters: Lacroix & Nick
Prompt: The Nightcrawler wins a major broadcasting award. Nicholas is impressed. The Enforcers are not.
Pairing Request
Characters: Lacroix/Nick
Prompt: What if Janette, instead of Lacroix, had brought Nick across in 1228?
Wildcard Request
Characters: Nick/Janette & Lacroix -or- Lacroix/Nick & Janette -or- Lacroix/Nick/Janette
Prompt: new diversions
Faction/Affiliation or Favorite Character: Cousin, UF, Valentine, Faithful, Seducer, Dark Knightie…
Preferred Ratings Range: No limits
Five Things You LOVE To Read: plot, metaphor, Nicholas embracing vampirism, Lacroix winning, vampire eroticism
Five Things You AVOID Reading: fluff, Nicholas regaining mortality, Lacroix stymied, Nicholas/Natalie, mpreg
Dear Author Letter: http://www.cerk.com/rosebud/likesdislikes.html
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FOR YOUR MOD TO USE
Three Things You Will NOT Create: Nicholas regaining humanity, Nicholas romancing a mortal successfully, "Lite" Lacroix
Three Things You LOVE To Create: Nicholas/Janette, Nicholas embracing vampirism, historical fiction
Are you willing to be a back-up writer/artist? Yes
Do you prefer to receive a story or a picture in reply to your prompts? Either is fine
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Want to know more about your recipient's preferences? Check out your recipient's blog or fanfic! If you have friends in common, you might try asking them. But please try to keep secret from your recipient that you're the one. Your story will be a surprise gift to your specific recipient, and a treat for all FK fanfic readers.
Thanks so very much for playing! It'll be fun!
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Don't forget to join the community journal(s), and to watch the admin posts! All reminders will be posted on LJ and DW.
Crossposted on DW