Announcing the "Thelma and Louise Do Outer Space" Ficathon

[itsallovernow]

What we mean when we talk about gal-pal fic (think of these not so much rules as guidelines.):

Firstly, we mean female main characters. Not that we have anything against male characters, or those without gender, or animate starships, or anything of the sort. But, as they say, outside the scope of this 'thon.

To be crystal clear - this means, for this 'thon, no non-canon genderfuck AUs. However, if TPTB of your particular fandom went there, you can too.

(Other AUs are fine – for us, characterization is more important than universe - if you hold otherwise, put a note to that effect on your request and we'll be sure your assignee sees it.)

"Main characters" means the main characters of your story. Not of canon. And how you choose to use those characters is up to you.

Every fandom and every character has a back story and relationships - 'ship and otherwise. Just because you're writing a story about Nancy Drew and George, that doesn't mean you can't have Nell and Bess play major parts in the story. But the story should be centered around the two women and their interaction.

"Characters" means no real people. Don't sign them up as wildcards - your request will be bounced back and you'll be asked to re-do it. Wild card historical figures will be judged on a case by case basis.

When we say "gal-pal interaction" that doesn't rule out adversarial relationships. You can write Saffron and Zoe (both of Firefly) working together while hating each other's guts. (In fact, consider that a request!)

It *does* MOSTLY rule out romantic/sexual relationships between those two characters. The point is female friendship, partnership, working together, relating to each other. If the characters are romantically connected in cannon, that's fine. But much as we love and support femslash, that isn't the point of this 'thon.

Does this mean no sex? No smut?

Of course not! This is fandom! All characters come with baggage - old friends, old lovers, family, enemies, spouses, children. Use 'em as your story demands. Just not as the main serving, please.

Finally, this is about interaction, not about an individual woman or girl. It's about the interplay between two friends, sisters, enemies, adversaries, accomplices or comrades. So make sure you're giving weight to the connection, not just the individual.

Hopefully I have not totally talked the kewl out of this concept.



Announcing sign-ups for the "Thelma and Louise Do Outer Space" gal-pal fanfic exchange sponsored by leadensky and thassalia.

Sign-ups start today and run for until Friday, May 5.

Assignments will be handed out May 8, barring mod breakdowns.

Fics of at least 500 words are due July 1, 2006.

In order to sign up, please provide the following:

LJ name:
Posting name (if different from lj name):
Email (Provide this even if it's ljname at livejournal):
Can we contact you to write a pinch hit? (yes/no - you don't have to promise, we just want to know if we can ask):

Fandoms I am willing to write in (Provide as many as you can off the primary fandom list, we will match you with at least one of these):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Fandoms I can write in with a lot of encouragement and the really good drugs: (Both primary list and Wild Cards. Please list at least four:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Requests (Make at least four, but no more than six, requests):
1.
2.
3.
Wild Cards:
Wild Cards:
Wild Cards:

Three requests must be from primary fandoms. Please list the fandom and *a* character. You *may* list other characters, preferred pairing (either galpal or other type of pairing), a *simple* (one or three words) prompt or another fandom to be crossed with this one, but the writer is *only* required to write *the fandom and first character*. Anything else you get is gravy.

Repeat for two OTHER fandoms, until you have a list of three primary-list fandoms and associated characters.

After those first three requests, go crazy. Ask for any fandom on or off the wildcard list, ask for another character from a primary fandom you already asked for, ask for cross-overs, ask for multi-fandom gal-bandit gangs, knock yourself out. From the perspective of a writer, I'm far more likely to be able to tack together a plot for "Aliens: Ripley, A missing scene between Vasquez and Ripley" or "Gilmore Girls: Rory, crossover with Alias" than I am for "Firefly: Inara, Farscape: Zhan, BSG2003: Roslin, Alias: Spy!mommy, Gilmore Girls: Lorelei's mom, Bible:Judith - in a post apolcalypic world, these women band together to rule what's left of America. And drink tea."

Again: First three requests - single fandom from the primary list, plus a character. Then up to three more requests, which can be cross overs, wild cards, etc.

What will be expected:

Keep your assignment secret. Write a story of at least 500 words. Get it spell-checked, beta'd and ready to post by July 1. Take a deep breath and consider volunteering to pinch hit for those VERY FEW people who realized AT LEAST A WEEK IN ADVANCE that they weren't going to get their story done in time and NOTIFIED THE MOD that they needed to bail.

(Predicted crankiness towards people who have to bail but let us know: nearly none. We've been there ourselves. Level of cranky to people who bail without notice: WHITE HOT FIERY PASSION OF A THOUSAND BURNING SUNS.)

Post on July 1, 2006 and link to a master page. When the person assigned you posts their story, find the story and leave a thank you comment. Gushing is optional, thanks are not. CONFINE ALL HOSTILE BITCHING AND WHINING TO LOCKED POSTS, EMAIL, AND IM. Con-crit is fine, if done politely, and I know as a young writer I would have loved to get it. (Still do, actually.)

If you have questions at any point, read the instructions again, and then ask us, we'll be glad to clarify, but less happy about making special exceptions.

Primary Fandoms:

Angel
Battlestar Galactica 2003
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Firefly
Farscape
Gilmore Girls
Harry Potter
Stargate SG1
Stargate Atlantis
Veronica Mars
West Wing
X-Men

A sampling of Wildcard Fandoms: Ficathon Poll and Yuletide 2005. You can ask for anything on that list and for any other fandom you can think of. Odds are, based on the strong response, there'll be more than one other person willing to write your DC Comics verse fic, or your thirtysomething fic (please, please because I think Sab will cry if someone else doesn't sign up for that!!).

Also, comments will be screened so that this can be SEKRIT!

Comments

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

You do rock. But...no Alias?

*sniffle*

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Put it in your Wild Card request!! I'm sure you won't be the only one. (We did it by the top placers in the poll).

[cretkid.livejournal.com]

I can't promise anything, but I will pinch hit; and from the list of fandoms, the only thing I can't write or refuse to write is Stargate Atlantis and Veronica Mars, and I could be plied with writing Xmen (depends on the characters), Angel, Buffy (I don't do their voices well) and Firefly -- basically, Whedon-verse is out for me.

I *could* write Stargate Atlantis, but it would force me to watch it. :D

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Dude, it's 500 words and July 1:) Just sign up!!! I'll treat you right baby:)

Although Kath's gonna have to fork over a limb in collateral if she signs up:)

[leadensky.livejournal.com]

Yah!

*dude* Now I have to figure out what I want.

Or, maybe, I won't? Maybe thirty or forty people will sign up - surely I won't have to write then.

Or...maybe only three or four will, and we'll have to put it off until next year!

Who the hell had this nut-job idea in the first place? *g*

- hg

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Hee Hee! I have a feeling that we will both be writing:) But I'm also hoping for a nice healthy turnout.

[leadensky.livejournal.com]

PS - on the friends list version, everything is in bold.

- hg

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

I know, and I don't know why!!! It's not on my page, and when I look at the coding, it's fine. Argh!!!

[rydra_wong]

*is confused*

OK, so how does the wildcard thing work? Do you get given a single assignment, or do you get to pick among the various requests your assignee has made or whut?

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

The wildcard is a chance for you to ask for EXACTLY what you want, even if it's not listed in the primary fandoms. If someone signs up who can write that, then I'll try to match them with your request. Or they can see your wildcard request and say, "Huh, that'd be cool," and try to write it for you:)

You're given all of the options, and then you choose what most strikes your fancy to write though.

Bats eyelashes. Does this mean you're going to sign up?

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure....

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Puhhhlleeeezzzzeee!!!

It'd be fun, it's 500 words and you can pretty much request anything you want in your shiny, favorite fandom!!

[riarambles.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't really write, but I seem to be awake at least an hour or two every night and have nothing to do during those hours, so if you two would like help dishing out the assignments or doing other administrative tasks, let me know.

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Thanks honey. I can say with utter certainty that I'll need the help!! It's much appreciated!

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

Do we sign up HERE? I've never done this before.

I also loathe the ideas of assignments on principle. My faux "muse" that is the progenitor of all my fic is notoriously cranky and smokes a lot and thows lit butts at people who request things.

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Yep! Sign up here. Trust me, it'll be fun. It's only 500 words and you'll find that when you get your assignment there will be a bunch of possibilities that will start pinging unexpectedly, especially with the wild cards.

The nice thing is that it's a request, but it's your spin on whatever the request is. And, you'll have another author with the exact same attitude towards assignments and deadlines forced to write YOUR request, so you know someone else is suffering equally:)

[rydra_wong]

From the perspective of a writer, I'm far more likely to be able to tack together a plot for "Aliens: Ripley, A missing scene between Vasquez and Ripley" or "Gilmore Girls: Rory, crossover with Alias" than I am for "Firefly: Inara, Farscape: Zhan, BSG2003: Roslin, Alias: Spy!mommy, Gilmore Girls: Lorelei's mom, Bible:Judith - in a post apolcalypic world, these women band together to rule what's left of America. And drink tea."

But now that you've mentioned the last option ... someone really ought to write it. Because they so would.

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

So far, we've elicited as many cracked out plot bunnies as we have sign-ups:)

[hobviously.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I'm confused. Should the "Fandoms I am willing to write in" list be ONLY primary fandoms, or should it be a combination of primary and wildcard fandoms until you get to six, or can I just throw in wildcards whereever I want?

*difficult*

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

They should first be from the primary fandom list, then you're more than welcome to put the wild card fandoms on there as well.

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

A clarifying question before I commit: are the multiple requests designed to give the writer options, or should they all be included in the fic? That is, if I should get an assignments with requests listed, say, 1. Aeryn, 2. Teyla, 3. C.J. Cregg, do I have to write about all three of them, or do I just pick one? I've seen ficathons go both ways.

And I really don't watch enough TV, clearly. There's no way I'll be able to fill up all those "I will write" slots. Sorry to be difficult!

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

No, no. They're to give writer options:) Obviously, you're welcome to try and incorporate them all, but that's not the intention:)

You don't have to fill up all the slots. Just put down what you're comfortable writing!

[rebism.livejournal.com]

Ack, it won't let me reply to my own screened comment, so this'll appear out of order, sorry.

-----

Actually, throw HP into "whild card fandoms I can write in with encouragement and free food" along with Xena and Lost, cos although I know canon inside out, it'd be my first time writing it.

So basically, fandoms I can totally write in goes, in no particular order:

Farscape
Law & Order: SVU
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
RENT
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

With possible writing of Xena, Lost and HP if poked hard enough.

Sorry for the confusion :)

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

No problem!! Thanks dear.

[the_rck]

This looks very tempting... I'm just not at all convinced that (a) I could write for any of the primary fandoms or (b) I can write anything at all (I'm in a prolonged dry spell due to life circumstances). It seems unfair to sign up when I might well not be able to deliver, but... *So* tempting.

At the very least, I'll likely follow along so that I know when the stories go up, can read them, and then rec the ones I really like.

(I'm not entirely sure how I got here, so I can't tell you. I think I clicked at least three links.)

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Sign up and try!! I'll try to match you with something you think you're up for and if you get overwhelmed, we'll find you a pinch hitter!

[sugargroupie.livejournal.com]

What time are you closing this today? I want to sign up, but I won't be able to fill out my requests until after I get off work.

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Midnight. And I won't close the post. No worries! Sign up when you can!

[honeymink]

Did you send out the assignments already? Because if you did... I didn't get mine. *looks around nervously*

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

No - real life work caught up to me, so I'll be sending them out today!! Sorry for the delay!

[hobviously.livejournal.com]

Hi! Belated question — can the main relationship of the story be mother/daughter? It seems a bit sketchy to me, but I'd be glad to know what the official ruling is. :]

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

I'd say yeah, that's fine.