Fanfic Rules?

[FreeFlier]

Are there any rules setting limits on what goes on in a fanfic?

At the other forum where I felt the need to write one, the basic rule was PG-13, though you could allude to other things if needed.

Those who remember me from CRFH probably have an idea why I'm asking - this one has some dark points too.

Thanks, FreeFlier

[jwhouk]

My general rule of thumb would be, "It's Paul's world. Don't make it worse than he has it."

[Sgt. Howard]

Are there any rules setting limits on what goes on in a fanfic?

At the other forum where I felt the need to write one, the basic rule was PG-13, though you could allude to other things if needed.

Those who remember me from CRFH probably have an idea why I'm asking - this one has some dark points too.

Thanks, FreeFlier

1) Don't offend Paul
2) PG-13 is good
3) Try to stay as close to ther realities of Wapsi world as you can
4) Don't go killing other people's characters
5) Ask bfore you jump into somebody else's fanfiction- we're pretty liberal with permission, as long as you don't short-sheet a plot in progress

... anything else the rest of you might think of?

[DinkyInky]

When in doubt, PM and plot is your friend. Also, patience. Some of the writers working in progress have stressful jobs that take away from here. They're really not ignoring you.

[FreeFlier]

Sounds about what I thought . . .

Yeah, I understand the patience and having a job . . . I have a job, but not a life.

Actually, I have two fanfics in mind, and one is a sidelight that might fit within canon (I'm not saying it is canon, but could fit within canon as something unseen in canon . . . if that makes any sense).

If I was going into someone else's fic, I would discuss it with them and get permission first . . . also if I was using someone's persona. Or put out a call for cameo volunteers . . . I've done both.

(Collaborative fiction is so much fun . . . I wish we'd been able to finish that bi-part collaboration and see if anyone figured it out . . .)

--FreeFlier

[jwhouk]

Oh, and do remember: if you're a "norm" and you find yourself in the Library more than once (and not on accident), you're GOING to get a riddle thrown at you.

[FreeFlier]

The main non-canon character I am working with, while not a paranormal, is not exactly a norm . . . I'd use the word mundane rather than norm, but I don't remember if that's accepted in the Wapsiverse.

He's the kind that would make sideways references to facts like that, too.

And is there a word for people who aren't paranormals, but are aware of them? In my timelines, they would be called cognizinti - knowing ones, more or less.

--FreeFlier

[Just Old Al]

Here we have been referring to characters like that as para-aware.

Two examples of this up till "Thicker Than Blood" were Greg and Al - the two sergeants.

Al works with MIB as a skunk-works specialist - he was aware of the para world but not directly involved. Sarge was much more para-aware having gotten sucked into Phix and Neil's wedding in TS&TC. Both of them are a lot more than simple gunsels even though that's the way they primarily went in "Thicker Than Blood".

Both of them got completely immersed as part of "Thicker Than Blood" dealing with the criminal element then being on the run themselves.

So, para-aware is I think the name of the term here.

I also strongly recommend that PM is your friend - stepping on someone else's characterizations is not nice at all. In the book we all got to the point where we could write each other's characters and the NPCs pretty well - but even then we collaboarated to make sure it was right and not just OK. None of us bite (OK, maybe Phix, but Neil likes it) and would be more than happy to advise/assist/help. For example, I can eaily write Neil/Greg/Al/most characters but I can't do elf worth a damn...so when i needed to work with Safyr or Emerauld I called on DInky for assistance. GLytch used to call on me for interactive dialogue with his characters from the ruling junta, for another example.

I suggest you practice riddles...Al nearly ended up Neil's co-husband in that little pavane in the Library. if she had just let him get a coffee first....

Alan

[DinkyInky]

but I can't do elf worth a damn...so when i needed to work with Safyr or Emerauld I called on DInky for assistance.

I suggest you practice riddles...Al nearly ended up Neil's co-husband in that little pavane in the Library. if she had just let him get a coffee first....

Alan

You did fairly well, all things considered...

And as for the letting you get coffee first, "Here kitty, kitty" would have probably not happened, and well, everyone but Phix(and possibly not Neil either, but nobody's asking) really enjoyed that bit...I can only imagine the radio play...

[Sgt. Howard]

On Christmas Morning, I go off-call for almost a week- currently, I have taken both of my two hooligans... er... stepsons... to a church function designed to provide guidance for such creatures. I had this silly idea I might write during this time, being close enough to work and an alternate ride home for the boys is here.
The place is crawling with teenagers- the girls are the loudest of the lot. I hereby nominate that the proper term for a gathering of adolescent females should be a "Giggle".
It is interesting to watch the interactions thereof- James (17) is a bit on the hefty side, dangerously handsome and avoiding girls. He's heard a little about my misadventures with the fairer sex and decided to keep his hormones in control.

We shall see how well that works, but I have my doubts.

Andrew (13) is a bit daft naturally, not yet immersed in girls but beginning to notice.

The girls notice them both. I have seen them salivating. It is not pretty. In fact, it is rather frightening... and disgusting... WHY THE HELL WERE THEY NOT THIS AGGRESSIVE WHEN I WAS THAT AGE?!?

[DinkyInky]

Why were the teenaged boys incapable of seeing me as anything but a "little sister" type when I was one?

I absolutely cannot handle boys young enough to be my son hitting on me.

Ages range from 15-24. Even were I single...eeeeeeewy! No! Gotta be no younger than 37, and able to deal with my son's antics for minimum of two hours without getting mean...if I were single.

Anyway, what is it with guys seeing a mid four-figure wedding ring on a woman's hand thinking, "Challenge accepted." Just for that alone I'll allow my son to heckle you...and join in.

Ewwwwwwwwww!

[Sgt. Howard]

Why were the teenaged boys incapable of seeing me as anything but a "little sister" type when I was one?

I absolutely cannot handle boys young enough to be my son hitting on me.

Ages range from 15-24. Even were I single...eeeeeeewy! No! Gotta be no younger than 37, and able to deal with my son's antics for minimum of two hours without getting mean...if I were single.

Anyway, what is it with guys seeing a mid four-figure wedding ring on a woman's hand thinking, "Challenge accepted." Just for that alone I'll allow my son to heckle you...and join in.

Ewwwwwwwwww!

"No Trespass" is pretty self explanitory

[ShneekeyTheLost]

It shouldn't matter if it is a rock with more carets than Bugs Bunny or something out of a vending machine. Ring means taken. Respect it. After all, it might need to be you offering one to some beautiful lady one day. Wouldn't you want others to respect that?

I have a shirt in my wardrobe with the caption 'fangirls scare me' with a silhouette of a small army of catgirls with red glowing eyes. Back when I worked the RenFaire circuit and did the Sci-Fi/Anime convention circuit as well, there was an... incident. It involved a blatantly underage catgirl in heat and no parental guidance in sight making a rather nauseating forward pass. Fortunately, I was able to summon a female member of security to take her off my hands.

Then there was the convention where I was bribed with a pallet of Dublin Dr Pepper to cosplay as Tuxedo Mask. The less said, the better.

I've discovered a good way of filtering the kids out of the dating pool. "Where were you on 9/11". If they respond with something like 'my parents...', that's your cue for urgent business that suddenly developed elsewhere.

[DinkyInky]

It shouldn't matter if it is a rock with more carets than Bugs Bunny or something out of a vending machine. Ring means taken. Respect it. After all, it might need to be you offering one to some beautiful lady one day. Wouldn't you want others to respect that?

I have a shirt in my wardrobe with the caption 'fangirls scare me' with a silhouette of a small army of catgirls with red glowing eyes. Back when I worked the RenFaire circuit and did the Sci-Fi/Anime convention circuit as well, there was an... incident. It involved a blatantly underage catgirl in heat and no parental guidance in sight making a rather nauseating forward pass. Fortunately, I was able to summon a female member of security to take her off my hands.

Then there was the convention where I was bribed with a pallet of Dublin Dr Pepper to cosplay as Tuxedo Mask. The less said, the better.

I've discovered a good way of filtering the kids out of the dating pool. "Where were you on 9/11". If they respond with something like 'my parents...', that's your cue for urgent business that suddenly developed elsewhere.

Ah yes, the infamous Dublin bribe.

*snickers*

Isn't that the one where you did a pristine version of the politician's two-step anime style?

[Just Old Al]

You did fairly well, all things considered...

And as for the letting you get coffee first, "Here kitty, kitty" would have probably not happened, and well, everyone but Phix(and possibly not Neil either, but nobody's asking) really enjoyed that bit...I can only imagine the radio play...

My voice is shaky, but for the radio play I insist on doing that catfight myself. You gonna do Phix? Need to get Shneekey to tell me how to sign up for that voice call service he was talking about.

As for Neil, he told Al afterward he'd never seen anything like it and that he was laughing like hades till he needed to step in and break it up. Something about "Mad dogs and Englishmen" came up...and he cautioned him never to tell Phix what he said as he had a real aversion to being eviscerated by his wife.

I have to confess, that bit of writing was part Sarge and I talking about things early on and part pure stream-of-consciousness barfing onto the keyboard. I was laughing my arse off and typing at the same time - I couldn't wait to see what would come out of my fingers next.

It was amazing. After the earlier bits that went out it was SO nice to do some plain old physical comedy that it just wrote itself.

[Sgt. Howard]

You did fairly well, all things considered...

And as for the letting you get coffee first, "Here kitty, kitty" would have probably not happened, and well, everyone but Phix(and possibly not Neil either, but nobody's asking) really enjoyed that bit...I can only imagine the radio play...

My voice is shaky, but for the radio play I insist on doing that catfight myself. You gonna do Phix? Need to get Shneekey to tell me how to sign up for that voice call service he was talking about.

As for Neil, he told Al afterward he'd never seen anything like it and that he was laughing like hades till he needed to step in and break it up. Something about "Mad dogs and Englishmen" came up...and he cautioned him never to tell Phix what he said as he had a real aversion to being eviscerated by his wife.

I have to confess, that bit of writing was part Sarge and I talking about things early on and part pure stream-of-consciousness barfing onto the keyboard. I was laughing my arse off and typing at the same time - I couldn't wait to see what would come out of my fingers next.

It was amazing. After the earlier bits that went out it was SO nice to do some plain old physical comedy that it just wrote itself.

"Here, Kitty kitty,"...I damn near pissed myself I was laughing so hard- imagine deliberately taunting an intelligent, foul-tempered, 3/4 ton knife display that would take down a cape buffalo for sport! Al and I have several moments like this- have you read about the rabbit?

[DinkyInky]

You did fairly well, all things considered...

And as for the letting you get coffee first, "Here kitty, kitty" would have probably not happened, and well, everyone but Phix(and possibly not Neil either, but nobody's asking) really enjoyed that bit...I can only imagine the radio play...

My voice is shaky, but for the radio play I insist on doing that catfight myself. You gonna do Phix? Need to get Shneekey to tell me how to sign up for that voice call service he was talking about.

As for Neil, he told Al afterward he'd never seen anything like it and that he was laughing like hades till he needed to step in and break it up. Something about "Mad dogs and Englishmen" came up...and he cautioned him never to tell Phix what he said as he had a real aversion to being eviscerated by his wife.

I have to confess, that bit of writing was part Sarge and I talking about things early on and part pure stream-of-consciousness barfing onto the keyboard. I was laughing my arse off and typing at the same time - I couldn't wait to see what would come out of my fingers next.

It was amazing. After the earlier bits that went out it was SO nice to do some plain old physical comedy that it just wrote itself.

"Here, Kitty kitty,"...I damn near pissed myself I was laughing so hard- imagine deliberately taunting an intelligent, foul-tempered, 3/4 ton knife display that would take down a cape buffalo for sport! Al and I have several moments like this- have you read about the rabbit?

Yes, and I'm afraid to google it based on the huge cluebyfour hints you've left.

[Just Old Al]

Yes, and I'm afraid to google it based on the huge cluebyfour hints you've left.

You don't need to - it's a brand name for a lady's friend....that's all you need to know. As a side note, never let people know you are handy with repairs on things...you get the damndest requests.

I will admit that is one of the odder repair requests I've had over the years.

Funniest thing is that Al was like Nicodemus - I never intended him to become a real character. He was supposed to be a one-shot cameo in the Tina story, then go on his way. Well, that sureashell didn't happen. Dumb SOB just could NOT keep his mouth shut in the coffee shop....argumentative old git.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

You did fairly well, all things considered...

And as for the letting you get coffee first, "Here kitty, kitty" would have probably not happened, and well, everyone but Phix(and possibly not Neil either, but nobody's asking) really enjoyed that bit...I can only imagine the radio play...

My voice is shaky, but for the radio play I insist on doing that catfight myself. You gonna do Phix? Need to get Shneekey to tell me how to sign up for that voice call service he was talking about.

As for Neil, he told Al afterward he'd never seen anything like it and that he was laughing like hades till he needed to step in and break it up. Something about "Mad dogs and Englishmen" came up...and he cautioned him never to tell Phix what he said as he had a real aversion to being eviscerated by his wife.

I have to confess, that bit of writing was part Sarge and I talking about things early on and part pure stream-of-consciousness barfing onto the keyboard. I was laughing my arse off and typing at the same time - I couldn't wait to see what would come out of my fingers next.

It was amazing. After the earlier bits that went out it was SO nice to do some plain old physical comedy that it just wrote itself.

The service is called Mumble and it is made of win.

Basically, it is a low-latency high-quality VoIP similar in concept to Teamspeak, only with less crap and more efficiency.

Do notice 'free software'. You don't have to pay a dime. Someone will have to host the server. Hopefully that won't be too difficult. Doesn't take many resources to host, although you probably don't want to do it on the same computer as a client.

[DinkyInky]

Yes, and I'm afraid to google it based on the huge cluebyfour hints you've left.

You don't need to - it's a brand name for a lady's friend....that's all you need to know. As a side note, never let people know you are handy with repairs on things...you get the damndest requests.

I will admit that is one of the odder repair requests I've had over the years.

Funniest thing is that Al was like Nicodemus - I never intended him to become a real character. He was supposed to be a one-shot cameo in the Tina story, then go on his way. Well, that sureashell didn't happen. Dumb SOB just could NOT keep his mouth shut in the coffee shop....argumentative old git.

And now he has got a normal abnormal life, and cannot imagine it any other way.

My toons have been alive...a really long time. There are bits and bobbles of their tales elsewhere...and after a while, they tell me how to write them...and drag others into the collective mayhem. Just ask "He Who Mutters" and "The Puckish Bluebell" or even "Tall, dark, fuzzy, and grumpy"...