The 2019 Rules Post: "That's where you started isn't it, Schank? In traffic?"

[brightknightie]

Welcome to our 2019 fkficfest Forever Knight game!

This is our 10^th annual game. We're marking the 27^th anniversary of FK's premiere, the 23^rd of its cancellation, and our ongoing affection for it and each other!

For the first time, we're playing challenge style. So we have no sign-ups, no matching, no assignments, no defaults, and no exchange! Instead, we have a shared prompt for all to address in common. We have a deadline so that we can have reveals. And we have a "wishing post" for those who like specific story requests. (Rules from past games apply. Stories must be at least 1K words, with other media equivalent.)

• Our common prompt is "ten years" (or "ten" & "years"), celebrating our game's anniversary.
• All fest fanworks must be in queue on the AO3 by Sunday, July 14, at noon Pacific Time, to be released throughout that week.
• Check out the "wishing post" to leave or find specific story requests, if that's your cup o' Ribena.

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Timeline | Mod | Rules

How to post

Timeline

• Sunday, July 14, Noon (Pacific): Submissions due on the AO3.
• Sunday, July 14: Moderator closes the collection and orders submissions for release.
• Monday, July 15: Submissions begin releasing.

Fanworks will release in an order and at a rate to encourage fun for all (probably 1/day).

Meet your mod

Your moderator is me! brightknightie/brightknightie (Amy R.). Please contact me at my DW account, or my personal email address (the same I've used on the FK email lists since '99).

As you may know, I loathe surprises. If something is going wrong in the game, let me try to help in advance. Ask early! Get it fixed! :-)

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 fanwork from our AO3 collection and (2) announce the story on DW and ForKni-L.

Gameplay summary: Challenge style

Each player addresses the shared prompt "ten years" (or "ten" & "years") in a new FK fanwork that is queued for reveal on the AO3 by the due date.

Rules FAQ

1. May I submit multiple fanworks?
   Yes. That's not expected or typical! But it's allowed. (All submissions must meet the same requirements.)
   
   
2. Are there limits on relationship categories?
   No. Gen, m/f, f/f, and m/m are all equal in FKFicFest. Please respect your diverse audience and fellow players.
   
   
3. May we have crossovers?
   Yes. FK must be at least 51% of the content, however you choose to measure.
   
   
4. How long must a story be? (What about other kinds of fanworks?)
   All written submissions must be a minimum of 1,000 words. A series of closely related shorter stories/poems (including the "5 Times" frame) are 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 works posted directly to the AO3.
   
   Any medium of new fanwork that can reasonably be queued for reveal via the AO3 (for example, an embedded image, video, or music file) is welcome. Other fanwork types must be a reasonable equivalent of 1,000 written words of effort and enjoyment, for fairness with story submissions. (So a single userpic icon file would be ineligible. But a collection of them displaying embedded in a single AO3 file could be eligible.) If you want to submit another kind of fanwork and don't know how, contact your moderator early and we'll figure it out.
   
   
5. What about beta-reading?
   Yes, please! :-) Ask a friend to play test audience! Revise and edit! Show off your ideas to their best advantage! (There will be a post to help beta-readers and writers to find each other.)
   
   
6. 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, no Divia sex scenes.)
   
   
   • 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, no Richard/Natalie.)
   
   
   • Real people. No real private individuals. Public figures may appear consistent with FK canon examples. (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.
     
     
7. What if I don't have an AO3 account?
   Ask your moderator for an invitation! The AO3 is very easy to use.
   
   

How to post your fanwork

How to post your fanwork to the AO3

When you finish, please post to the 2019 FKFicFest collection on the AO3. (Here's the direct post a new work to FKFicFest 2019 link.) It's important to add your work 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” waiting its turn. The parent FKFicFest collection is permanently closed; stories post to the applicable annual sub-collection (like, 2019).

Steps:

1. Click Post New.
   
   
2. In the Tags block, pick a rating and set any warnings. Enter Forever Knight as the fandom. Identify the category (gen, m/f, etc.). Add any other tags you like.
   
   
3. In the Preface block, enter the title and identify yourself as the author. A summary and notes are recommended but not required. (Tip: To open the text box for notes, click one of checkboxes for notes locations.)
   
   
4. In the Associations block:
   • For “Post to Collections / Challenges, enter “2019_FKFicFest.” THIS IS VITAL!
   • If you're fulfilling a wish, 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.)
     
     
5. In the “Work Text” block, paste your story. Tip: You may work in “plain text with limited HTML” or click the “Rich Text” button.
   
   
6. In the Post block, consider using “Preview” before posting.
   
   
7. 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

I'll take care of all the announcements this year. If you'd rather do your own, let me know in advance!

Thank you very much for playing! Yay, us! Yay, Forever Knight!

Reminder: Back at our 5^th game, we declared a jubilee and wiped out all past penalties. No one is suspended!

Comments

A question

[pj1228]

I'm not sure I understand the "ten" & "years" alternative correctly. Is just "ten" another prompt and "years" a third option or are they meant to belong together?

Re: A question

[brightknightie]

My apologies for the confusion!

• Option 1: Prompt unit: "ten years"
  This is one prompt to be used in one fanwork. It might lead to a story somehow involving a ten-year anniversary, a ten-year prison sentence, the tenth year in the Chinese zodiac, a decade of history, something that happens decennially, ten non-sequential years, ten years before something, ten years after something, ten favorite years, ten forgotten years, years with "10"s in them, ten wall calendars, ten annual scrapbooks, a ten-year-old child...


• Option 2: Prompt pair: "ten" & "years"
  This is two prompts to be used in one fanwork. They might lead to a story involving a sports score of ten and also a crossword-puzzle clue of years, or a monetary amount of ten and also a collection of yearly editions of a book, or an apartment numbered ten and also a mid-life crisis, or a prescription of ten doses and also a New Year's Eve party...

Does that make sense?

I should have run this refinement past the community before posting. I apologize!

Re: A question

[pj1228]

Thanks for the clarification. I think I've comprehended it now.