FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
ABOUT THE MEME
What is a kink meme?
What is a prompt freeze (and when do they occur)?
What’s the meme’s policy on underage prompts and fills?
Is RPF allowed?
Things that we appreciate.
Nesting your fills
Titling your fills
Using subject lines
What are RTYIs and when are they appropriate?
What is the meme’s policy on spoilers?
What is hijacking?
What is kinkshaming?
What is flaming?
Is there a backup of the community in case of LJ apocalypse?
COMMON PROBLEMS
‘Why can’t I see my post?’ or ‘Why was my post deleted?’
What happened to my formatting?
PROMPTING
How do I post a prompt?
How often can I prompt?
Why are people ‘claiming’ prompts?
FILLING
How do I post a fill?
I’m interested in filling a prompt, but it’s from one of the older/full parts.
What happens if a prompting post reaches 9500 comments and I’m not done posting my WIP?
I filled a prompt, but it has not been added to the FPP yet. What do I do?
Can I fill my own prompt?
A fill seems to have been abandoned. Can I take over and fill it instead?
Where can I find a beta?
CLARIFYING ASPECTS OF FANDOM (I keep seeing ______. What is _______?):
What is Omegaverse?
People often write ‘Mycroft says X’ in their posts. What does it mean?
What’s with Anderson and the dinosaurs?
What’s with John and Jam?
What is the Wotsits theory?
What’s with Sherlock’s shirt-buttons?
What’s the origin of John’s red pants?
Who is Hamish?
Why does everyone keep implying that Mycroft has a carnal relationship with cake?
What is this otter thing?
What is this hedgehog thing?
MISC.
Useful acronyms
Useful HTML
Spoiler cuts
Inserting an image
Typeface formatting
There are so many good prompts! How can I keep track of them?
I’m looking for a specific fill and I can’t find it. Can I prompt it?
My question has not been answered here, what should I do?
ABOUT THE MEME (index)
What is a kink meme?
A kink meme is a community where you can leave a prompt with an idea you’d like to see made into a fanwork, and someone may come along and do that. It is also a collection of prompts you can read for inspiration.
People post prompts, which can be very detailed (with specific ideas for plot and dialogues) or extremely vague. A prompt can also be a song, a video, an image, a challenge, etc.
Contrary to fic exchanges, where people make fanworks specifically tailored to someone’s taste, the prompts in a kink meme are meant to inspire writers. Sometimes, you will get a fill that’s exactly what you wanted - and that’s fantastic - but sometime the fill won’t be what you had in mind. If that happens, keep in mind that just because someone filled your prompt doesn’t mean you will not get a second fill. If you don’t, you can always re-post your prompt two parts later.
We understand that the kink meme is huge and that it’s impossible to keep track of everything that’s been posted so far. However, before you prompt something, please check the few last pages to see whether your idea has already been prompted.
Anonymous posting is enabled because it lowers inhibitions and it’s a great way to get anonymous feedback before posting to LJ/AO3/ff.net. However, anonymous posting is not mandatory, and sometimes people post links to their LJ/AO3/ff.net accounts instead of posting the fill as a series of comments. Unanon, anon, or sock accounts: all are welcome.
As well, while this is a kink meme, we welcome all kinds of prompts, kinky or not. (back)
What is a prompt freeze (and when do they occur)?
To give fillers the opportunity to work on their stories without being distracted by shiny new prompts, and to give the archivists some time to catch up with the Filled Prompts Post, we sometimes have prompt freezes. During a prompt freeze no new prompts are allowed, but everyone is encouraged to comment and fill as much as they want.
Depending on the rate of activity, there may or may not be a prompt freeze when a part reaches 2000 and 4500 comments. However, there will be one when it reaches 7000 comments. After the 7000 comment freeze a new part will be posted; all prompting should happen on the new part.
A prompt freeze usually lasts 48 hours, but they could be longer or shorter depending on the circumstances. When they announce a new prompt freeze, the mods will say how long that freeze will be. Please don’t post any new prompts until a mod announces that the freeze is over. The prompts that are posted during a freeze will be deleted. (back)
What’s the meme’s policy on underage prompts and fills?
Since Strikethrough in 2007, it is not against LiveJournal’s policy to portray underage people in a sexual situation as long as said people are fictional. Therefore the meme allows prompts and fills that deal with underage characters in a sexual situation. With this in mind, please be aware of the laws in your own country and act accordingly.
Please consider using a warning when you post a prompt or a fill dealing with underage characters in a sexual situation. (back)
Is RPF allowed?
Fanworks featuring the actors and creators of Sherlock aren’t allowed on this meme. However, you can use other famous people as characters in your fanworks. This means that a story in which Mycroft meets Mark Gatiss isn’t allowed, but if Mycroft goes out for drinks with Lady Gaga, that’s alright.
Prompts featuring people from fandom are also not allowed.
If you want to post/fill RPF prompts, you can do so at the RPF meme. (back)
Things that we appreciate.
Nesting your fills
Please nest your fills. This helps your readers track your work and helps the Delicious archivers archive it. A helpful anon has written a wonderful guide describing how to nest your fills. (back)
Titling your fills
Please title your fills. This makes them stand out and is very helpful to the people tracking a lot of threads. It also helps streamline the Delicious archiving process. (back)
Using subject lines
Please use subject lines. This helps flatviewers keep track of what’s happening and helps people scrolling through the meme notice your prompts and fills. (back)
What are RTYIs and when are they appropriate?
Sometimes, when reading a prompt, you will be reminded of something you’ve read or wrote before. When that’s the case, please don’t post that story as a new fill, but rather provide a link to the original post. That way the fill won’t be archived twice, and there will be no confusion over who the original author is and where any comments should go.
Sometimes, when an OP feels like they’ve read every fic that exists on a subject, they will say that they don’t want RTYIs. If that’s the case, please respect their wish. If you’re not sure that a RTYI will be well received (because it only fills part of a prompt, or because the pairing isn’t the same as what the OP asked for), you can ask the OP whether they would be interested in a RTYI.
Please don’t post RTYIs in the Filled Prompts Posts. It will make things harder for the archivists who use the FPPs to track new fills, and the chances that the OP will see it are slim. (back)
What is the meme’s policy on spoilers?
Enough time has passed since S2 aired that we allow spoilers for both S1 and S2 everywhere. A new policy will be in effect once we get close to S3. (back)
What is hijacking?
Hijacking may be defined as responding to a prompt by taking a portion of it and adding your own ideas about what should be added, changed, or eliminated. In addition, commenting with off topic jokes or chatter.
When hijacked, the focus of a prompt can be lost, and inappropriate threads created. When this happens fillers may be discouraged, which is something no one wants to experience.
If a prompt leads you to an original idea, please create your own prompt. The chatter or love posts are the proper places to share jokes or talk about prompts that have inspired you. (prepared by an anonymous user on the Page-a-Mod post) (back)
What is kinkshaming?
Telling someone that a kink is gross or wrong is kinkshaming.
Implying there’s something morally wrong with the contents of a prompt or a fill is kinkshaming.
Saying that a prompt or a fill would be better if it didn’t contain a certain kink is kinkshaming.
Asking for clarification of a prompt is fine; asking why someone would want to read a fic containing certain elements is kinkshaming.
Saying that something would never happen in canon might not technically be kinkshaming, but it’s still not welcome on the meme. (back)
What is flaming?
Flaming is criticism that is not constructive. “People will find your fills easier to read if you use punctuation” is constructive. “You suck and your writing sucks” is a flame. Flaming will be deleted, even if disguised as constructive criticism. (back)
Is there a backup of the community in case of LJ apocalypse?
Yes. We have a clone of the community over here on Dreamwidth. Since the community is active on Livejournal, commenting over on the clone is disabled. It is only being used as a backup. Should Livejournal no longer be a good place to host the community, we will open commenting on the clone and move the community there. We have also made a tumblr account for the meme. If LJ dies without warning, we will use that account to communicate with the users and promote the meme’s new home using the Sherlock and Sherlockbbcfic tags. (back)
COMMON PROBLEMS (index)
‘Why can’t I see my post?’ or ‘Why was my post deleted?’
First, make sure that your prompt/comment/fill really has been deleted. For users who are not logged in, it may take some time for comments to show up because LJ comments are cached in the system. If you either log-in or wait for a while and refresh, you will likely see your comment.
If your comment has violated one of the meme’s rules or you have asked to have it deleted, one of the mods may have removed your comment. If you have reprompted something before two parts have passed, it will likely have been deleted. If you are logged in and didn’t break any rule, please contact the mods with a link to your comment (if possible) and a small description of what was in the comment. (back)
What happened to my formatting?
Sometimes LJ will change the formatting of your posts if you are copying text from another program such as Word. You may end up with a mass of unspaced text or have punctuation stripped out. In order to prevent this, please use the ‘preview’ button, which is next to the ‘comment’ button.
Previewing will allow you to see whether you need to make any formatting changes before posting. If you realise that there’s something wrong with your formatting after you post, you can post it again and ask the mods to delete the previous comment. (back)
PROMPTING (index)
How do I post a prompt?
The first thing to check is whether we are having a prompt freeze. If we are, please wait until the freeze is over to post your prompt. Otherwise, it will be deleted. Also make sure that you are prompting in the current prompting post. To know which post is the active one, you can check the meme’s sticky post.
To post a prompt, click the ‘Leave a comment’ link under the main post. If you have clicked a ‘reply’ link then your prompt will be mistaken for a comment on another prompt.
To prompt, simply leave a message requesting something that you would like to see made into a fanwork. Being clear and precise is good, but if your prompt is exceptionally detailed fillers may fear they’d be unable to meet your expectations. For examples of prompts, you might find it helpful to look through the meme and see how others have formatted their requests. We love originality.
After over two years of activity and more than thirty prompting parts, a lot of ideas/tropes/kinks have already been written many times. We always appreciate more fills, but before you prompt an idea, please check the relevant tags on the Delicious archive and the last few pages of the current prompting part to check if the same thing has been prompted recently.
When posting a prompt, please use a subject line. For the anons viewing the meme in flatview, this makes a huge difference as it allows them to determine what’s being said as a response to what prompt.
When you post a prompt that may trigger someone, please consider using warnings. Things which you might want to consider warning for include: Rape/Non-Con, Death, Suicidal Thoughts, Self-Harm, Underage Relationships, among others. (back)
How often can I prompt?
There is no limit on how many prompts you can post, but if you can, please try to participate by filling as well. Keep in mind that there are many more prompts than fills, and that sometimes even the prompts you think are very good will remain unfilled. Meme history has demonstrated that if you prompt frequently in a short period of time - and people are able to identify the flood of prompts as coming from you - people may be disinclined to fill your prompts, and complaining about that will not encourage fillers. (back)
Why are people ‘claiming’ prompts?
Claiming a prompt means that you were inspired by a prompt and intend to fill it. It’s a way to let the OP (and everyone who likes the prompt) know that they should check the prompt often because a fill is coming.
Even if someone ‘claims’ a prompt that you are interested in filling, don’t let that stop you. Multiples fills are encouraged, and the OP will be delighted.
Claiming is not required to fill a prompt (and it can lead to disappointment if you don’t end up filling it). (back)
FILLING (index)
How do I post a fill?
First, make sure you are posting the first part of your fill as a direct response to the prompt. Then, remember to click the ‘Reply’ link directly under the prompt, and not the ‘Leave a comment’ one at the bottom of the page. We cannot implore enough that you title your fill. Doing so will be tremendously helpful to the people tracking the meme, and your fill will stand out in the Delicious archive. We know that titling fanworks is hard, but trust us, even a series of random words is better than ‘Fill’ or ‘Untitled’. If you're not inspired, you can use the same subject line the OP used for the prompt, but put 'Fill' in front of it so people will know it was filled. If your fill has multiple parts, it will make things easier if you number them.
When you post a fill that may trigger someone, please consider using warnings. Things which you might want to consider warning for include: Rape/Non-Con, Death, Suicidal Thoughts, Self-Harm, Underage Relationships, among others.
Nesting your fill is also incredibly helpful. If multiple people are filling the same prompt at the same time, nesting will ensure that the two fills don’t interfere with each other. Nesting also makes it possible for people to link to your whole fill (instead of the prompt and all the unrelated comments following it). It also makes your fill easier to read.
Nesting, as explained by an anonymous poster on the Chatter Post works like this:
Prompt
- Fill part 1/x - the first part is a response to the prompt. Press "reply" on the prompt.
- - Fill part 2/x - the second part, and all following parts, are responses to part 1. Press "reply" on part 1.
- - Fill part 3/x - response to part 1. Press "reply" on part 1.
- - Fill part 4/x - response to part 1. Press "reply" on part 1.
If you do the 1a, 1b, etc. style, it's the same thing. It might look more like this:
Prompt
- Fill part 1a/x - response to the prompt.
- - Fill part 1b/x - response to part 1a.
- - Fill part 1c/x - response to part 1a.
- - Fill part 2a/x - response to part 1a.
- - Fill part 2b/x - response to part 1a.
- - Fill part 3a/x - response to part 1a.
Only part 1 is a direct response to the prompt. After part 1, all other parts are a response to part 1. No other part is a direct response to the prompt.
For further reading on nesting, follow this link. (back)
I’m interested in filling a prompt, but it’s from one of the older/full parts.
You can fill prompts from any of the prompting parts, even those that are already full. If the prompt is from a part that hasn’t reached 9500 comments yet, go ahead and post it directly under the original prompt.
However, if the prompt is from a part that has over 9500 comments (or is full), please use the Overflow Post. If you can, post a link to your fill as a response to the original prompt, and don’t forget to use the correct Filled Prompts Post so your fill will make it to the Delicious archive. (back)
What happens if a prompting post reaches 9500 comments and I’m not done posting my WIP?
If this happens, please move your fill to the Overflow Post. You don’t need to start over on that post - just put a link to the beginning of your fill and pick up where you left off. Then post a link to the rest of your fill under the original prompt so people will be able to find the rest of your fill.
If the post fills up by the time you’re ready to post a new part, the first thing to do is look at the comments left by readers. Sometimes people who follow WIPs will realise that a post is almost full and secure a place for the fic on the Overflow Post - they’ll post a link under the original fill. If that’s the case, use that place. If it’s not, contact the mods. We might be able to delete an errant comment or prompt at the end of the original post so that you can alert your readers that you have moved the story to the Overflow Post. (back)
I filled a prompt, but it has not been added to the FPP yet. What do I do?
Go ahead and post it under the prompt anyway. Sometimes, when the meme moves particularly quickly, it’s harder to keep up with the Filled Prompts Post, but a mod will get to it as soon as possible, and then you’ll be able to enter your fill. By the way, thanks for using the FPP! We love you! (back)
Can I fill my own prompt?
If your prompt was posted anon, there’s no way to know that you’re the one filling it, so go for it! We are always in favour of more fills, no matter who provides them, and those who are tracking the prompt will most likely be thrilled to see a fill.
If you didn’t prompt anonymously, you can still fill your own prompt. However, if you do this too often, people may feel like you are using the meme as a platform to promote your fics. If you have already created a fic that you would like people to read, the Story Announcement Post or the main Sherlock BBC community would be a good place to post it. (back)
A fill seems to have been abandoned. Can I take over and fill it instead?
It’s not okay to take over another author’s fic without their consent. If you ever find yourself in that situation, check the Orphan Post; maybe the author will have decided to give their fic up for adoption over there. If not, you can always start your own fill. (back)
Where can I find a beta?
If you want to remain anonymous, the meme has a concrit post that you might find helpful. Simply post a link to your fill with a description of the kind of feedback you’d like to get (characterisation, spelling and grammar, brit-picking, etc.), and hopefully some people will give you their input. Keep in mind that the concrit post will only work if people take the time to offer concrit, so if you have the time to look at the different requests over there and give some feedback, the authors will greatly appreciate it.
If you’re comfortable with asking for a beta non-anon, you may be able to find one if you post a request in the chatter post.
There are also good resources off meme that can help you with your fics. The sherlockcrit community works like the concrit post and can offer anonymous feedback on fics featuring characters from any Sherlock Holmes adaptation. (back)
CLARIFYING ASPECTS OF FANDOM (I keep seeing ______. What is _______?): (index)
What is Omegaverse?
The Omegaverse is a specialised AU in which the population is divided into alphas, betas, and omegas. This universe was originally prompted on the Supernatural kink meme, but is now very well established in the Sherlock fandom. The omegaverse is sometimes also referred to as A/B/O AU, and usually features kinks and tropes including: heats, knotting, bonding, anal lubrication, breeding, mpreg, and scenting, among others.
It has been described in detail here. (back)
People often write ‘Mycroft says X’ in their posts. What does it mean?
Since Mycroft apparently has control over CCTVs, pay phones, and ATMs, there’s nothing stopping him from taking over robot spam challenges. Someone once prompted Mycroft controlling CAPTCHA. Fandom ran with it and decided that he’s the one coming up with the (not so) random words in reCAPTCHA. (back)
What’s with Anderson and the dinosaurs?
Someone once prompted “When Anderson masturbates he thinks of dinosaurs.” It has since become a running joke in fandom. If you’re interested in reading more about Anderson’s love for dinosaurs, visit the the Delicious archive and look at the ‘trope: dinosaurs’ tag. (back)
What’s with John and Jam?
Kate Beaton drew a comic referencing how John Watson tends to be portrayed in adaptations. Since then, prompts featuring John and jam have been common on the kink meme, some of them very tame, others very kinky. If you’re interested in reading more about John’s multiple uses for jam, visit the Delicious archive and look at the ‘trope: jam’ tag. (back)
What is the Wotsits theory?
The Wotsits Theory is the most plausible theory of how Sherlock survived the Reichenbach fall. (back)
What’s with Sherlock’s shirt-buttons?
Sherlock’s shirt buttons are tight, yo!
Oh yeah. Donate to Operation Save Sherlock’s Buttons today! (back)
What’s the origin of John’s red pants?
John’s red pants were drawn for the first time by Reapersun on tumblr. Since then, John’s red pants have been featured in many pieces of fanart by many artists. If you’re interested in seeing more of those scarlet undergarments, you should check out the red pants monday tag on tumblr. (back)
Who is Hamish?
Following John’s mention in ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’ that his middle name, Hamish, would be a suitable name for Sherlock and Irene’s offspring, an original character called Hamish has been showing up in fandom. Sometimes he’s Sherlock and Irene’s son, raised by Sherlock and John. Sometimes he was born through a surrogate, and sometimes he’s the product of mpreg. (back)
Why does everyone keep implying that Mycroft has a carnal relationship with cake?
In ACD!canon, Mycroft is described as being ‘rather portly’, or to quote directly, “...Heavily built and massive, there was a suggestion of uncouth physical inertia in the figure...” (The Bruce-Partington Plans). Fandom did its thing, and Mycroft/Cake was born. This is the first mention on the meme, and this is the first full-on reference to Mycroft/Cake. (back)
What is this otter thing?
Redscharlach on tumblr put together an image comparing pictures of otters to pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch in his role as Sherlock. It went viral. (back)
What is this hedgehog thing?
Apparently, no-one really knows, but it’s a meme. (back)
MISC. (index)
Useful acronyms
Used to identify who’s posting
AYRT: Anon you replied to
NAYRT: Not the anon you replied to
AIRT: Anon I replied to
DA: Different anon
NA: New anon
SA: Same anon replying to their own comment to make an addendum
OP: Original poster/thread starter
A!A: Author Anon
Other acronyms often seen on the meme
RTYI: Relevant to your interests
RTMI: Relevant to my interests
YMMV: Your mileage may vary
YKINMK: Your kink is not my kink
YKINMKATO: Your kink is not my kink, and that's okay
TL;DR: Too long; didn't read. Sometimes known as 'teal deer'.
While not an acronym, you will often see ‘anon’, ‘nonny’, or ‘nonnie’. It’s used to refer to those who post anonymously. (back)
Useful HTML
Spoiler cuts (Please use these when inserting a large image)
Inserting an image
Typeface formatting
italicize
your text here
bold
your text here
underline
your text here
strikethrough
small
your text here
Changing your text colour
your text here
Changing typeface
your text here (back)
There are so many good prompts! How can I keep track of them?
One way to track threads on LiveJournal is having a paid account. If you do, you can track threads by clicking on the 'Track This' icon that’s on every comment (next to the date).
For those without paid accounts, a helpful anon recommends this Greasemonkey script.
In the past, there was a Firefox add-on that you could use to track threads for free. However, our recent attempts to use it have been unsuccessful. If you figure out how to make it work (this tutorial could be helpful), please let us know. (back)
I’m looking for a specific fill and I can’t find it. Can I prompt it?
Because we want the prompting posts to remain for prompts and fills only, we have a Searching Post where you can post requests like that. Some people check it regularly and we’re sure they’ll be able to help you.
You can also use the meme’s Delicious archive or Pinboard archive. Try looking through the tags that are relevant to the fill you are looking for, and keep in mind that you can include more than one tag in your searches. Here is a guide to our tagging system. (back)
My question has not been answered here, what should I do?
If you have concerns or questions that haven't been answered in this FAQ, feel free to leave a comment on the Page-a-Mod post. If your question is not about the running of this meme, but rather Sherlock fandom in general, you may find the discussion/chatter post appropriate. (back)