Rules and FAQ's
The rules and FAQ's for this community, slightly rewritten and expanded.
1. Claiming Characters and Fandoms
A fandom, and/or a character or pairing within that fandom can be claimed by more than one person at a time. If you claim one character or a pairing/group, that character or pairing/group must be used or referenced in some way in every story. If you claim General Series, you can use whatever characters from that fandom that you want in each story.
The following types of claims are allowed: Single characters, pairings, threesomes, moresomes, non-romantic groups/friendships, General Series, Alternate Universes, Real Person Fic, slash, het, gen, Original Universes, Original Characters, Canon Character/OC, OC/OC within an established fandom, odd pairings/groups (incest, a character and their car, character and their beloved pet, character and their bad habit, etc.), cross-overs, cross-over pairings, shows or book series that have different characters and stories in each episode (like The Twilight Zone, Fear Itself, Goosebumps, etc.), and more (if there's anything left!). Any story can use OC's and canon pairings with those OC's if necessary, but your claim must be used/referenced somehow.
Once you stake your claim, wait until I have replied to you before you begin posting. I want to add you to the Master List. You will receive your tags when you post your first story.
2. How many things can I claim at the same time?
I honestly don't care how many claims you make at once, but please be realistic and only make claims you think you can/will actually finish. It is only ten stories, but it's sort of irritating to have abandoned claims on the list.
3. Can I post fics that I wrote before I signed up for the challenge?
Yes, one per table you claim.
4. How long do my fics have to be?
They have to be at least 100 words, but otherwise they can be as long as you want.
5. Which pairings and ratings are allowed?
All pairings, genres, and ratings from G to NC-17 are allowed. Just please make sure to use the right rating and warn people appropriately for adult/objectionable content.
6. Are there any deadlines?
No, none at all. Really, you can take as long as you want to complete your claim(s).
7. Can I post fics that I've written for this challenge elsewhere?
Yes, you can. It's totally your work, after all.
8. Can I use fics I've written for other challenges for this one?
Only if they can be specified as 'new' fics which means they have to be written after the date you signed up for this challenge. (Except for that one old fic that's allowed.) And please make sure the other challenge's rules agree to this too. (I've actually never seen a challenge that said you couldn't post your stories to other comms, so I wouldn't worry about it. They're your stories, you can do with them what you want. Of course, if you're writing your story for a Big Bang or Secret Santa Fic Exchange and have a specific posting date, in that case, you wouldn't want to post/pimp the story here early.)
9. How central does the prompt have to be in my fic?
Basically, you can just use it for inspiration. Your story should be about the prompt, suggest the prompt, contain the prompt, or discuss the prompt in some manner. There needs to be a bit more than just a mention of the word in your story. And of course, there needs to be some hurt/comfort in the story also. Feel free to interpret prompts creatively.
10. What do I do when I've completed all my fics?
When you've completed all ten fics, send an email to sailorhathor@aol.com so I can give you a shiny banner to post in your journal or wherever you want to post it. It would be very helpful if you'd send along a favorite picture from your fandom that illustrates your claim that I can use to make that banner. You can also request your banner by replying to this post.
11. Are fic collaborations allowed?
Yes, they are, as long as all the collaborating authors (limit 2) are writing for the same claim (otherwise, it's not truly a collaboration). To clarify, two people can work on ten stories together, where each contributes to each story. You can't have one person write five stories and the other write five stories; both writers must contribute to every story. You can also each claim a different table for the same claim and each write ten stories, working together on the ideas. (Such as, RPG play converted into story form.)
If you'd like to have 3 collaborators, everybody claim a table, total of at least three. If you'd like to have 4 collaborators, everybody claim a table... and so on. You just can't have more than two people working on ONE table.
12. Do I have to fill the prompts in order?
No, not unless you want to.
13. Can one story fit more than one prompt?
No. The purpose of this challenge is to write 10 stories. The exception to this rule would be if you claimed more than one table for one claim. Like, let's say you claimed Alec of "Dark Angel" for the Classic table and the Illnesses table. One story could fit one prompt from each table, just not the same table. The prompts have to be different. (For instance, Love is on more than one table. You cannot use Love from one table and Love from the other to fit one story.) I have found that it is far more challenging to make a story fit more than one prompt anyway, so, fun!
14. What if I'm writing a long, multi-chaptered story? Can each chapter be used for a different prompt?
Yes, as long as each chapter you are using to fill a prompt is at least 100 words.
15. So I could write a 10-chapter story, with each 100+ word chapter filling one prompt?
Yes.
16. But I can not fill two prompts from the same table with one chapter?
Right, you cannot. See #13.
17. Can I fill a prompt with a random chapter from a story I'm working on?
Yes.
18. I can also write one story with, say, three chapters filling three prompts, and another story with seven chapters filling seven prompts, and so on?
By George, I think you've got it! ;)
19. Should I Friend's Lock my posts? Can I disable comments?
Please don't. Please don't as well. They only make my job as a mod more difficult.
20. Can I link to Friend's Locked posts in my own journal?
No, please don't. Your stories need to be available to everyone to read. I also will not link to any Flocked claim table posts on the master list.
If you've got a story that would normally be posted to a friend's locked journal, and you want to link to it in accordance with fulfilling this challenge, here's what you can do instead: Post the story directly to this community. Put it behind a LJ-cut. If the story is adult in nature, you can also Flag it. How Flagging works. The same goes for your prompt table; if your journal is all friend's locked, you can post the table to this comm behind a LJ-cut. I know that flagging a story makes it unavailable to children and/or teenagers, but that's how it works. Sowwy. (It's voluntary anyway. No one forces any author to flag their story. It's just encouraged.)
When you link to your stories on your table, you can link to the friend's locked entries or the entries you posted to this comm. That part is your choice. But, when/if you do your Complete! post, you should link to your entries in this community.
21. Do I have to post my stories (or links to those stories) that fulfill the prompts to the community in order to complete the challenge?
Yes, that's the point. When you tell me you've completed your challenge, I must find ten stories/chapters (or links to those stories) posted to the community for that claim before I will declare you finished. Each story must be at least 100 words in order for you to pass as well. I won't declare you finished and make you a banner unless you meet at least these two criteria.
I'm not responsible for any claims that may have gone through before I became the mod that did not meet these criteria.
22. If I post a story directly to the comm instead of linking to it elsewhere, should I use a LJ-cut? If that story is rated R or NC-17, should I take advantage of LJ's flagging system and mark it Adult Concepts or Explicit Adult Content?
Yes and yes, I would appreciate it if you would. How to make a LJ-cut. How Flagging works.
23. Can we fill prompts with art/manips?
No, sorry. We're just going to stick with fanfic for now. But, feel free to make art/manips to go along with your stories if you want.
24. Okay, I'm ready to post! What now?
Post a link to your story using this header:
Title:
Author:
Claim:
Table:
Prompt:
Rating:
Summary:
Warnings:
Notes:
or one like it.
25. Yay, new prompt tables! Tell me more about what I can do with them.
When you make your claim, specify which table you want to work from. It is okay to stake the same claim for more than one table. For instance, you could claim Dean Winchester from "Supernatural" for the Classic table and the Injuries table at the same time. Or, you could claim Dean for the Classic table and his brother Sam for the Wedding Vows table. Or the claims could be from two different fandoms for two different tables. And so on. Have fun!
26. If I made a claim for the Classic table, but one of the new tables inspires me more, can I switch?
If you've already started the Classic table, please either finish it or turn it into a Do-It-Yourself table by filling in the remaining prompts that are not inspiring you with whatever prompts you choose. Then, once you're done, you can make another claim with whatever new table you like. If you haven't started the Classic table, you can switch tables. Just please let me know that you're switching by replying to the Master List post.
27. I need a 50 or 100-prompt table monkey on my back! Gimme gimme!
Because this community is called *10* hurt/comfort, I'm not going to make a table that big at this point. ;) However, if you want a bigger table, you can just make the same claim for more than one table. Want 20 prompts to work from? Make the same claim for two different tables. Want 50 prompts? Claim five tables, and so on. Please try not to overlap prompts (some prompts are on more than one table) by using the DIY feature.
28. Can I post stories that are not in English?
Yes. Please post your header in English, though, and identify what language the story is in. That way, people can use online translators to read the story if they want/need to. :)
29. How do tags work again?
You get your tags when you post your first story. This is because a lot of people make a claim and then completely forget about it. Poor, lonely, forgotten tags with no posts to point to. If I (the mod) wait until you post your first story before I create your tags, then there are no pathetic orphan tags hanging out there in space. Yay!
I will tag your first entry within a few days of its posting with all necessary tags, but you should tag all subsequent posts. Tags benefit you - they lead people to your stories. I will make sure every post has at least an author tag. But the other tags are your responsibility after your first post. Please don't give me extra work to do - learn to tag your own entries!
30. What if my story is more hurt than comfort, or more comfort than hurt? Can I still use it?
Yes. As long as there's some mention of both. Like, I've seen many stories where a character gets kicked around for the whole story, and at the end, someone offers comfort, and we fade to black. That's fine. Or, at the beginning of the story, someone mentions that they've been hurt and another person comforts them for the bulk of the story. That's fine too.
31. What if I'm doing a multi-chapter story where, for example, the first few chapters are all about the hurt and the last one is about the comfort? Can I do that?
Yes.
32. I've posted my table but there are no borders around it. What gives?
Some journal styles won't show the borders around tables, for some reason. Something with their specific HTML interferes with the border HTML. But it's not a problem; the most important thing is that we can see the rest - the prompts. :)
However, if it bothers you enough to want to fix it, sunstreakerslut provided this helpful tip:
Add the following to the Custom CSS via the Customize Journal Style link -
.asset-body table, .asset-body td { border: 1px solid #000000; }
Once you go into the Customize area and click the link that says you want to Customize your Theme, you'll see a link that says Custom CSS. Enter the text supplied above in the box and Save the changes.
Final Points to Cover:
-More than one person can claim the same thing at one time. Therefore, if you are dropping your claim, it's not necessary to say, "I don't want to hold the claim up for someone else who might want it! *dramatic self-sacrificing hand to forehead*" Just drop it already. It's okay. ^_^
-You get your tags when you post your first story.
-To Serve Man is a cookbook.
Should you have any more questions, please feel free to post a comment to this post.
1. Claiming Characters and Fandoms
A fandom, and/or a character or pairing within that fandom can be claimed by more than one person at a time. If you claim one character or a pairing/group, that character or pairing/group must be used or referenced in some way in every story. If you claim General Series, you can use whatever characters from that fandom that you want in each story.
The following types of claims are allowed: Single characters, pairings, threesomes, moresomes, non-romantic groups/friendships, General Series, Alternate Universes, Real Person Fic, slash, het, gen, Original Universes, Original Characters, Canon Character/OC, OC/OC within an established fandom, odd pairings/groups (incest, a character and their car, character and their beloved pet, character and their bad habit, etc.), cross-overs, cross-over pairings, shows or book series that have different characters and stories in each episode (like The Twilight Zone, Fear Itself, Goosebumps, etc.), and more (if there's anything left!). Any story can use OC's and canon pairings with those OC's if necessary, but your claim must be used/referenced somehow.
Once you stake your claim, wait until I have replied to you before you begin posting. I want to add you to the Master List. You will receive your tags when you post your first story.
2. How many things can I claim at the same time?
I honestly don't care how many claims you make at once, but please be realistic and only make claims you think you can/will actually finish. It is only ten stories, but it's sort of irritating to have abandoned claims on the list.
3. Can I post fics that I wrote before I signed up for the challenge?
Yes, one per table you claim.
4. How long do my fics have to be?
They have to be at least 100 words, but otherwise they can be as long as you want.
5. Which pairings and ratings are allowed?
All pairings, genres, and ratings from G to NC-17 are allowed. Just please make sure to use the right rating and warn people appropriately for adult/objectionable content.
6. Are there any deadlines?
No, none at all. Really, you can take as long as you want to complete your claim(s).
7. Can I post fics that I've written for this challenge elsewhere?
Yes, you can. It's totally your work, after all.
8. Can I use fics I've written for other challenges for this one?
Only if they can be specified as 'new' fics which means they have to be written after the date you signed up for this challenge. (Except for that one old fic that's allowed.) And please make sure the other challenge's rules agree to this too. (I've actually never seen a challenge that said you couldn't post your stories to other comms, so I wouldn't worry about it. They're your stories, you can do with them what you want. Of course, if you're writing your story for a Big Bang or Secret Santa Fic Exchange and have a specific posting date, in that case, you wouldn't want to post/pimp the story here early.)
9. How central does the prompt have to be in my fic?
Basically, you can just use it for inspiration. Your story should be about the prompt, suggest the prompt, contain the prompt, or discuss the prompt in some manner. There needs to be a bit more than just a mention of the word in your story. And of course, there needs to be some hurt/comfort in the story also. Feel free to interpret prompts creatively.
10. What do I do when I've completed all my fics?
When you've completed all ten fics, send an email to sailorhathor@aol.com so I can give you a shiny banner to post in your journal or wherever you want to post it. It would be very helpful if you'd send along a favorite picture from your fandom that illustrates your claim that I can use to make that banner. You can also request your banner by replying to this post.
11. Are fic collaborations allowed?
Yes, they are, as long as all the collaborating authors (limit 2) are writing for the same claim (otherwise, it's not truly a collaboration). To clarify, two people can work on ten stories together, where each contributes to each story. You can't have one person write five stories and the other write five stories; both writers must contribute to every story. You can also each claim a different table for the same claim and each write ten stories, working together on the ideas. (Such as, RPG play converted into story form.)
If you'd like to have 3 collaborators, everybody claim a table, total of at least three. If you'd like to have 4 collaborators, everybody claim a table... and so on. You just can't have more than two people working on ONE table.
12. Do I have to fill the prompts in order?
No, not unless you want to.
13. Can one story fit more than one prompt?
No. The purpose of this challenge is to write 10 stories. The exception to this rule would be if you claimed more than one table for one claim. Like, let's say you claimed Alec of "Dark Angel" for the Classic table and the Illnesses table. One story could fit one prompt from each table, just not the same table. The prompts have to be different. (For instance, Love is on more than one table. You cannot use Love from one table and Love from the other to fit one story.) I have found that it is far more challenging to make a story fit more than one prompt anyway, so, fun!
14. What if I'm writing a long, multi-chaptered story? Can each chapter be used for a different prompt?
Yes, as long as each chapter you are using to fill a prompt is at least 100 words.
15. So I could write a 10-chapter story, with each 100+ word chapter filling one prompt?
Yes.
16. But I can not fill two prompts from the same table with one chapter?
Right, you cannot. See #13.
17. Can I fill a prompt with a random chapter from a story I'm working on?
Yes.
18. I can also write one story with, say, three chapters filling three prompts, and another story with seven chapters filling seven prompts, and so on?
By George, I think you've got it! ;)
19. Should I Friend's Lock my posts? Can I disable comments?
Please don't. Please don't as well. They only make my job as a mod more difficult.
20. Can I link to Friend's Locked posts in my own journal?
No, please don't. Your stories need to be available to everyone to read. I also will not link to any Flocked claim table posts on the master list.
If you've got a story that would normally be posted to a friend's locked journal, and you want to link to it in accordance with fulfilling this challenge, here's what you can do instead: Post the story directly to this community. Put it behind a LJ-cut. If the story is adult in nature, you can also Flag it. How Flagging works. The same goes for your prompt table; if your journal is all friend's locked, you can post the table to this comm behind a LJ-cut. I know that flagging a story makes it unavailable to children and/or teenagers, but that's how it works. Sowwy. (It's voluntary anyway. No one forces any author to flag their story. It's just encouraged.)
When you link to your stories on your table, you can link to the friend's locked entries or the entries you posted to this comm. That part is your choice. But, when/if you do your Complete! post, you should link to your entries in this community.
21. Do I have to post my stories (or links to those stories) that fulfill the prompts to the community in order to complete the challenge?
Yes, that's the point. When you tell me you've completed your challenge, I must find ten stories/chapters (or links to those stories) posted to the community for that claim before I will declare you finished. Each story must be at least 100 words in order for you to pass as well. I won't declare you finished and make you a banner unless you meet at least these two criteria.
I'm not responsible for any claims that may have gone through before I became the mod that did not meet these criteria.
22. If I post a story directly to the comm instead of linking to it elsewhere, should I use a LJ-cut? If that story is rated R or NC-17, should I take advantage of LJ's flagging system and mark it Adult Concepts or Explicit Adult Content?
Yes and yes, I would appreciate it if you would. How to make a LJ-cut. How Flagging works.
23. Can we fill prompts with art/manips?
No, sorry. We're just going to stick with fanfic for now. But, feel free to make art/manips to go along with your stories if you want.
24. Okay, I'm ready to post! What now?
Post a link to your story using this header:
Title:
Author:
Claim:
Table:
Prompt:
Rating:
Summary:
Warnings:
Notes:
or one like it.
25. Yay, new prompt tables! Tell me more about what I can do with them.
When you make your claim, specify which table you want to work from. It is okay to stake the same claim for more than one table. For instance, you could claim Dean Winchester from "Supernatural" for the Classic table and the Injuries table at the same time. Or, you could claim Dean for the Classic table and his brother Sam for the Wedding Vows table. Or the claims could be from two different fandoms for two different tables. And so on. Have fun!
26. If I made a claim for the Classic table, but one of the new tables inspires me more, can I switch?
If you've already started the Classic table, please either finish it or turn it into a Do-It-Yourself table by filling in the remaining prompts that are not inspiring you with whatever prompts you choose. Then, once you're done, you can make another claim with whatever new table you like. If you haven't started the Classic table, you can switch tables. Just please let me know that you're switching by replying to the Master List post.
27. I need a 50 or 100-prompt table monkey on my back! Gimme gimme!
Because this community is called *10* hurt/comfort, I'm not going to make a table that big at this point. ;) However, if you want a bigger table, you can just make the same claim for more than one table. Want 20 prompts to work from? Make the same claim for two different tables. Want 50 prompts? Claim five tables, and so on. Please try not to overlap prompts (some prompts are on more than one table) by using the DIY feature.
28. Can I post stories that are not in English?
Yes. Please post your header in English, though, and identify what language the story is in. That way, people can use online translators to read the story if they want/need to. :)
29. How do tags work again?
You get your tags when you post your first story. This is because a lot of people make a claim and then completely forget about it. Poor, lonely, forgotten tags with no posts to point to. If I (the mod) wait until you post your first story before I create your tags, then there are no pathetic orphan tags hanging out there in space. Yay!
I will tag your first entry within a few days of its posting with all necessary tags, but you should tag all subsequent posts. Tags benefit you - they lead people to your stories. I will make sure every post has at least an author tag. But the other tags are your responsibility after your first post. Please don't give me extra work to do - learn to tag your own entries!
30. What if my story is more hurt than comfort, or more comfort than hurt? Can I still use it?
Yes. As long as there's some mention of both. Like, I've seen many stories where a character gets kicked around for the whole story, and at the end, someone offers comfort, and we fade to black. That's fine. Or, at the beginning of the story, someone mentions that they've been hurt and another person comforts them for the bulk of the story. That's fine too.
31. What if I'm doing a multi-chapter story where, for example, the first few chapters are all about the hurt and the last one is about the comfort? Can I do that?
Yes.
32. I've posted my table but there are no borders around it. What gives?
Some journal styles won't show the borders around tables, for some reason. Something with their specific HTML interferes with the border HTML. But it's not a problem; the most important thing is that we can see the rest - the prompts. :)
However, if it bothers you enough to want to fix it, sunstreakerslut provided this helpful tip:
Add the following to the Custom CSS via the Customize Journal Style link -
.asset-body table, .asset-body td { border: 1px solid #000000; }
Once you go into the Customize area and click the link that says you want to Customize your Theme, you'll see a link that says Custom CSS. Enter the text supplied above in the box and Save the changes.
Final Points to Cover:
-More than one person can claim the same thing at one time. Therefore, if you are dropping your claim, it's not necessary to say, "I don't want to hold the claim up for someone else who might want it! *dramatic self-sacrificing hand to forehead*" Just drop it already. It's okay. ^_^
-You get your tags when you post your first story.
-To Serve Man is a cookbook.
Should you have any more questions, please feel free to post a comment to this post.