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fkficfest2017-03-11 10:49 pm
The 2017 Rules and Sign-ups Post: "You will watch life begin, and end, and begin anew."
Sign-ups are now open for our 2017 fkficfest Forever Knight exchange ficathon game! Welcome!
This is our 8th annual game. Here in this year of the 25th anniversary of FK's premiere, let's celebrate our beloved show and the friends we've made through it!
- Sign-up with a comment on this post by Friday, March 24, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
- Promote the game to your friends and followers! Share! Invite! Cajole and persuade!
- Comments are screened. I'll unscreen and answer questions. Sign-ups will stay screened.
What's new for 2017? We'll play mostly as we did in 2016! Only earlier in the year, and we won't fuss with a challenge-style contingency. We will explicitly expect recipients to acknowledge their writers.
How to post your story | How to sign up for the exchange
Timeline
- Saturday, March 11: Exchange sign-ups open.
- Friday, March 24, 11:59 PM: Exchange sign-ups close.
- Sunday, March 26: Exchange assignments emailed.
- Saturday, May 27, 12:00 noon: Stories due on the AO3.
- Sunday, May 28: Pinch-hitters recruited if needed.
- Monday, May 29 (Memorial Day in the US): Stories begin releasing.
All deadlines are Pacific Time.
No stories will reveal until all stories are in or with a pinch-hitter. Stories will release in an order and at a rate estimated to encourage reading fun for everyone (probably 1/day).
Meet your mod
Your mod is me! brightknightie/brightknightie (Amy R.). Please contact me directly at my DW account, or my personal email address (the same one I've used on the FK email lists since '99).
As you may know, I loathe surprises. If something is awry in the game, let me try to help in advance. Ask early! Get it fixed soonest! :-)
Rules
FKFicFest celebrates the remarkable television show Forever Knight (1992-1996) and its wonderful fans! Each day of our festival, I'll (1) reveal a story from the community's AO3 collection and (2) announce the story on DW. (ForKni-L and LJ will get announcements, too, but at a lag, probably bundled.)
Gameplay summary
Each player (1) submits a slate of 3-4 prompts, (2) receives in return a slate of 3-4 prompts submitted by someone else, (3) writes 1 story (or story sequence) of at least 1,000 words (or draws 1 picture of at least 500x500 pixels) to fulfill any 1 of the 3-4 prompts received, (4) receives 1 story (or picture) that fulfills 1 of the prompts submitted, and (5) a wonderful Forever Knight time is had by all.
Rules FAQ
- So that's 3-4 prompts, but only 1 story or picture?
Yes. Each player submits and receives 3-4 prompts, but writes 1 story (or draws 1 picture). Writing more than 1 story is allowed; it isn't required, expected or typical.
- What are the 3-4 kinds of prompts?
Players must submit 1 gen, 1 pairing, and 1 wildcard prompt. Players may submit 1 crossover prompt. This gives options! In FKFicFest, we use these definitions:- Required: "Gen" is primarily about anything other than romantic/sexual relationships or activities. Stories primarily about solving a crime, finding a cure, saving a life, losing a life, fixing the Caddy's heater... these are "gen." (Yes, romance and sex may be mentioned in gen! As minor elements.)
- Required: "Pairing" is primarily about romantic and/or sexual relationships or activities. Stories primarily about finding love, losing love, having sex, getting married, entertaining such fantasies... these are "pairing." (Yes, mysteries may be solved, lives saved, and heaters fixed in pairing stories! Pairing may or may not be PWP.)
Important: M/f, f/f and m/m are all equally allowed, rated and respected in FKFicFest. - Required: "Wildcard" may be anything except a crossover. It may be another gen prompt, another pairing prompt, or whatever. (Wildcard is the best place for poly requests.)
- Optional: "Crossover" crosses or fuses Forever Knight with another fandom such that FK receives more than half of the story focus (minimum 51% FK, however you measure). The crossover request may be gen, pairing or wildcard, and it may identify any other fandom (up to 15 fandom possibilities) that complies with all rules. (Matching on crossover fandoms is chancy! Please have realistic expectations.)
Tip: An ampersand ("&") means gen. A slash ("/") means pairing. (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. But a series of closely related shorter stories (including stories using the "5 Times" frame) are also allowed, as long as they (1) add up to at least 1,000 words, and (2) post within a single file on the AO3 (the chapter feature can help with this).
We have no maximum length for stories posted directly to the AO3.
- What about beta-reading?
Yes, please! :-) Ask a friend to play test audience! 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.)
- What counts as acknowledging the person who writes a story for my prompt?
Leave a comment of at least 1 sentence in length on the story on the AO3, no more than 1 month after the story releases. (You can do more! Reply deeply or broadly! Click "kudos" or "bookmark"! Post about it on your journal!) If you can't respond to a story written for your prompt, please get in touch with me. In the unlikely event that a penalty becomes necessary, it will be a 1-game suspension. - CANS O' WORMS! What is forbidden?
- Underage sex. No character who is or appears to be under 18 years of age may be depicted "on screen" in sexual activity. Such activity may happen "off screen." (For example, Divia sex scenes 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. Such activity may happen "off screen." (For example, Richard/Natalie is prohibited.)
- Real people. No real private individuals. But public figures may appear consistent with the example of FK 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. If the moderator believes that you've trolled or flamed, she will ban you. This community is pro-Forever Knight, diversity, tolerance, kindness, respect, truth, justice and the Canadian Way … oh, wait, that's the Knightie Creed. But you know the drill! Constructive criticism is fine. Bashing is not.
- What if I have to drop out?
We'll understand. We'll also be sorry to lose you!
For any drop-outs, we must find a back-up writer ("pinch hitter"), who must produce a story meeting the same rules with less time, so deadlines and penalties becomes necessary. If you know that you must drop out of the exchange, please do so as soon as possible, so that we can find a replacement writer. The deadline to drop out without any penalty is Saturday, April 29, 2017.
If something unavoidable comes up in the final month, please talk to me as soon as possible! Don't just vanish! I'll try to work something out with you; I can do that only if you get in touch and stay in touch. (Seriously, do not surprise me.) Anyone defaulting by not posting as agreed and/or not responding to my emails/PMs about a missing story will not be allowed to participate in future FKFicFest ficathons, and nobody wants that! We all want to play together again!
- When can I post my story elsewhere?
Please wait until after the last story is revealed in the ficathon before also posting your story away from the ficathon. By all means, please do point out your story on the AO3 as soon as it's revealed! Link to it! Invite your friends and followers to your story and to everyone else's stories in 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 me for an invitation! The AO3 is very easy to use. (If you have a personal reason for avoiding the AO3, you may post to our community on DW (or even LJ, although we're downplaying that). If you need this exception, please discuss it with me well in advance.)
- How do the “announcements” work?
Each story gets a prompt individual "announcement" to our DW community with a link to the story on the AO3. (ForKni-L and LJ also get announcements, but later and batched.)- You can write your own announcement in the format below and post it to the community queue on DW, so that any comments go directly to you. Or you can let me write the announcements. Either is fine.
- I'll release your announcement(s) on DW after I release your story on the AO3.
- How do 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. (Most people will receive stories, regardless, because most players will be writers.)
All rules (including content rules) apply to visual artists exactly as to writers, with these variations:- The picture must be created from scratch. That is, all forms of original drawing and painting (whether by hand, mouse or other tool) are eligible, but manips and collages (which begin with existing images) are not eligible. (I make manips and collages myself. This is not a slam at those art forms! It's just a parameter for exchange 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 that would spoil the reveal. (LJ and DW scrapbooks are okay! So is Deviantart!)
- Using an “img” tag and an “a” tag, the AO3 post should display/embed a thumbnail that links to the full-sized image, if the AO3 layout doesn't accommodate the full-sized image itself. (People do this on the AO3 with vids all the time, and I've personally done it with stills. It works.)
- Please note that comic strips and animation drawn/painted from scratch are eligible, but vids from existing footage are not. (An FK vidfest would be a blast! But this isn't that.)
- What's with all the jargon? -or- Help! I don't know the factions!
Faction/affiliation names and other jargon are some of the joys of FK fandom! But our special FK language has evolved through generations of fans. In our prompts, let's translate for each other, defining "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!
How to post your story
How to post your story to the AO3
Posting directly to our community collection on the AO3 lets authors edit their stories while the stories 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 releases.
When you finish your story, please post it to the 2017 FKFicFest collection on the AO3. (Here's the direct post a new work to FKFicFest 2017 link.) It's very important to add your story to the collection when you post! If you don't add it to the FKFicFest collection, your story will be visible to everyone immediately, instead of veiled as a “mystery story” awaiting its turn. Note that the parent FKFicFest collection is permanently closed; stories should always post to the applicable annual sub-collection (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017).
Steps:
- Click Post New.
- In the Tags block, pick a rating and set any warnings. Enter Forever Knight as the fandom and identify the category (gen, m/f, etc.). Additional tagging (characters, relationships, etc.) is recommended but not required.
- In the Preface block, enter the title and identify yourself as the author. A summary and notes are recommended but not required. (Note: To open the text box for notes content, click one of checkboxes for notes locations.)
- In the Associations block:
- For “Post to Collections / Challenges, enter “2017_FKFicFest.” THIS IS VITAL!
- 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: 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 to me), but everyone else will see a “mystery work” until the reveal.
How to post your announcement to the community
You can write your own announcement in the format below and post it to the community queue on DW. Or you can let me make the announcements. Either is fine. I'll release your announcement after I release your story on the AO3.
The community is set to moderated posting on DW. (I can delete posts from the DW queue, but you can't update queued posts there like you can on the AO3.)
How to sign up for the exchange
To sign up for this exchange game, reply to this post with your answers to the little form below. Please wish big with your prompts, and keep an open mind and heart for your match's story reply. :-) And of course don't bash; please just say clearly what is and isn't your cup of Ribena.
The sign-up template
Example sign-ups
| If Nick were playing with us, his sign-up might look like this: | If Lacroix were playing with us, his sign-up might look like this: |
AO3 Username: NickBK |
LJ/DW/AO3 Username: Rosebud Email address: rosebud@freenet.to.ca Are you playing as a writer or as a visual artist? Writer ~~~~~~~~~~ FOR YOUR WRITER TO SEE REQUIRED: Gen Request Characters: Lacroix & Nick Prompt: The Nightcrawler wins a major broadcasting award. Nicholas is impressed. The Enforcers are not. REQUIRED: Pairing Request Characters: Lacroix/Nick Prompt: When Nicholas has amnesia in "Night in Question," Lacroix resists taking advantage. But when Nicholas's memories are back and he's grappling with the aftermath of the so-called demon possession, what Lacroix wants is what he's sure Nicholas needs. REQUIRED: Wildcard Request Characters: Nick/Janette & Lacroix -or- Lacroix/Nick & Janette -or- Lacroix/Nick/Janette Prompt: a solar eclipse OPTIONAL: Crossover Request Fandom(s): MCU or The X-Files Characters: Lacroix & Fury -or- Lacroix & Skinner Prompt: "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." Faction/Affiliation or Favorite Character: Cousin, UF, Valentine, Faithful, Seducer, Dark Knightie… Preferred Ratings Range: No limits 5 things you LOVE to read: plot, metaphor, Nicholas embracing vampirism, Lacroix winning, vampire eroticism 5 things you AVOID reading: fluff, Nicholas regaining mortality, Lacroix stymied, Nicholas/Natalie, mpreg "Dear Author" letter: http://www.cerk.com/rosebud/likesdislikes.html ~~~~~~~~~~ FOR YOUR MOD TO USE 3 things you will NOT create: Nicholas regaining humanity, Nicholas romancing a mortal successfully, "Lite" Lacroix 3 things you LOVE to create: Nicholas/Janette, Nicholas embracing vampirism, monologues 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 How much do you want to write/draw a crossover? Neutral If you're willing to write/draw a crossover, please name up to 15 fandoms in which you'd enjoy doing that: MCU and/or 616, Person of Interest, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, First Century CE RPF, The Borgias, Motive ~~~~~~~~~~ |
Want to know more about your recipient's preferences? Check out your recipient's journal or fanfic! If you have friends in common, you can ask them. But please try to keep your match a pleasant surprise for your recipient.
Thank you very much for playing! Yay, us! Yay, Forever Knight!
A happy reminder: For our 5th game, we declared a jubilee and wiped out all past penalties. No one is suspended!