Reminder: Challenges

[naeko.livejournal.com]

In our quest for fun content in the community, the mods have decided to put up a little reminder of the challenges we have available for Lashers. If you're looking for something to do, and/or just want to post to get a bunch of comments, feel free to participate in any of these!

Modly Notes:
• Many of the challenges have "deadlines" listed on the original challenge announcement posts. These can be disregarded. We no longer consider challenges to be close-ended, and want to invite anyone interested to participate. These even includes the icon challenge, despite the fact that it was originally put out as a contest to create and vote on an icon for the community.
• Some of the Challenges have rules against posting your entries directly to the community. We are revoking this rule and allowing people to post challenge content directly to the community.
• In some cases, these rules are different from when the challenges were originally posted. This is because the community itself has evolved since many of these were posted. From here on out, this post should be considered the rules for the challenge posts so please refer to these if you are unsure of anything. As always, the mods are open to any further questions you may have.
• We've had a general ban on fanworks here in the community, but going through the tags, we've discovered that there have been several icon posts over the years. We are currently in the final stages of editing the new FAQ (yes! really!), and in it we've allowed fanworks under the cover of the challenges. As long as your creations stick to the guidelines, they are more than welcome!
• When participating in the challenges, make sure to title your entries with the Challenge name, and to TAG your entry with the correct tag.

Challenge 001: Fangirl Retort
Pick your favourite (or least favourite!) LKH fan retort. E.G., "if you don't like it, don't read it!" or "You're a closet fan. You just don't want to admit it!" Now, rip it to shreds, but do it with intellect and support your position. For example, if you attack "You don't like all the sex because you're a prude!", don't just counter with "Well, you dig all the sex because you're a slut." The goal is to show the fangirls that we aren't blindly hating LKH: we have our reasons and while some of them may be shallow, most are not.

Challenge 002: Think Positive!
What do/did you like about the books? Be as positive as possible in your response. For example, if your thought is something like "I really liked how she managed the sexual tension between Anita and JC", don't end the sentence with "until she turned Anita into Super Whore 3000."

Challenge 003: Author Pimpage
We have no shortage of posts like these; any book recommendations are welcome within Lashouts, even outside the realm of a challenge post. Basically, what I'm saying is, keep 'em coming, people!

• Pimp your author in a SEPARATE POST, not in the comments to someone else's post. You want as many people to see it as possible. Also, put the author's name in the subject line.
• Long entries behind an LJ-cut.
• Do keep an eye on who's been pimped. No sense in us all pimping the same person.
• Published authors only please. You may know the best fanfic writer in the world (don't we all?), but we're looking for world-builders, not world-borrowers.

Challenge 004: Kill Her Darlings
We all know Hamilton is in dire need of learning how to distance herself from her creations and what better way than to show her how to off them?

• Separate post for each death, please. Not everyone scours the comments for new content.
• In the subject line, please put something like "Character killing: [character name]".
• Use an LJ-cut for the actual story/whatnot.
• If your story/whatnot contains something you know is controversial/triggery/upsetting/etc., please give a warning.
• We've put a tentative limit on length; try to make it 500 words or fewer. We won't punish you if your fic goes over, but avoid massive theses worth of material. You can write a drabble, a eulogy, a grave marker, a death notice, a lament, whatever.
• The cause of death cannot be Edward. That's too easy.
• Only one character death per story/whatnot.
• Want to express death through a picture? Awesome. But you'll need to find a host for your pic.
• Constructive criticism is welcome and those who post must be prepared to accept it, should it come their way. Flaming will be dealt with post-haste.

Challenge 005: Make a Mock Blog
This is your chance to climb into LKH's expensive shoes while avoiding the ankle injuries she's so fond of speaking about: create a mock blog! Write a blog entry as if you are LKH and you have important, special, rare wisdom to impart.

• The FAQ rule of "Keep Trinity out of this" stands. Do not mention her in the blog; LKH usually doesn't, after all.
• Don't quote or "borrow" from LKH, outside of her favorite phrases, of course. Your mock blog must be written by you, not pieced together by bits of her actual writing.
• Don't include a date; it's unnecessary.
• Follow the format below:

Subject line: "Mock Blog: [your mock blog's title]"

Title: [your mock blog title]
Notes: [anything you think we should know]

!! If you make intentional grammar/spelling/etc. errors, mention this under Notes
!! You must place your Mock Blog behind an LJ-cut, no matter how long it is

Challenge 006: Lashouts Icon Challenge
Initially this was a challenge designed to help create the community icon. Since then, several icons and links to icons have been linked. It's clear people want icons, so we're happy to allow them, assuming they follow these guidelines:

• Icons must meet LJ's standards of size, etc. Icons must be 100x100 pixels max and no more than 40k.
• Try to keep the icons based on LKH's words, not her life. No insults, threats, etc. directed to her or her "people" are allowed. There are a few icons out there that say something to the effect of, "LKH likes the smell of her own farts." Something like this would not be considered a threat, and would be allowed even though it's not directly based on her words. Please use your best judgement and email us if you're not sure if something will be accepted.

Challenge 007: Comic Recommendations
This is your opportunity to recommend comics that may have nothing to do with LKH, paranormal romance or any sort of preternatural beasties! What comics out there do you want people to buy instead of the boring drivel that LKH has foisted upon the world?

• Only one pimp per post. You can reference other works but focus on one. If you're talking about a specific creator/creative team, you can reference as many of his/her/their works as you like, but you can only talk about one creator/creative team at a time.
• If you're using spoilers and/or your entry is long, use an LJ-cut. Provide any warnings outside and above the LJ-cut. Give a bit of info before the LJ-cut (creator's name, title, etc.) so people know what's in store.
• Links are fine, but please note if they're "not work safe". If you have a page/community dedicated to said work/creator, feel free to mention it; if you belong to one, you may also mention it.
• Please don't post huge images. If you want to post a small sample, that's fine, but don't hotlink. Use your best judgement when it comes to images; if you have one, tastefully small image, leave it uncut. If your image haul will hurt readers on dial-up, slap an LJ-cut on that biatch.
• Give at least some general info: creator's other works and collaborations, titles of works, general overview, why it caught your fancy, etc.
• Make a note of general availability. For example, if you're talking about a series that came out in the 1970s and is impossible to find, say so: then people won't get (as) frustrated. Likewise, if it's not available in English, please let us know.
• This is not an opportunity for you to stealthily post your comics for sale/trade.

Challenge 008: Save Their Souls (or lack thereof)
Basic premise: you have to defend your favourite characters, as if the characters who garnered enough support will be granted a place on the Anita/Merry Ark, on which they will be free from LKH/Anita/Merry's vile taint.

• No plagiarizing. If you quote LKH, credit her.
• Merry and Anita (in any of their incarnations) are, obviously, excluded, since we're trying to rescue characters FROM them.
• You can only defend single characters, not groups. For example, you can defend Zerbrowski, but not RPIT, or Rafael, but not the wererats. And yes, Sigmund counts as a character!

One format per defence:
1. Text-based: 300 words max. per character. Spellcheck, please! You can do fanfic, poetry, a mini-essay, haiku, a personal ad, whatever. The test must be written by you, unless you get someone else to write on your behalf and have them contact me.
2. Icons: 5 per character. Try to credit anyone you borrow from: bases, brushes, etc. The icons must be made by you.
3. Art: Keep the size reasonable; no one wants to have to scroll over three-screens-worth to see your picture.

Challenge 009: CLOSED
This is the only challenge that is closed, and that's because it was for a specific event that has passed.
As stated in the blog, LKH, creative goddess that she is, can't think of a good stripper/stage name for Jason. So she's holding a contest. Yippee! (Or, in her words, yea!) Thus, the challenge here is the same: give Jason a stripper name. Use a meme formula or an online generator or your brain, whatever you like.

Challenge 010: Valentine's Day
What kind of Valentine's Day greetings would LKH's characters send to each other? What would they give as gifts? Would JC paint a big heart on his ass and invite Asher to break his heart? Would the werewolves give someone a literal heart, still warm? Would Frost make little heart-shaped ice cubes for his beloved's drink of choice?

This is open to any of the worlds Hamilton has created, even those outside of AB and MG. You can do fanfic, a poem, a drawing, a love letter, a photo, icons, a song you wrote. It can be serious or funny or introspective or snarky or whatever flavour you feel like. Don't claim someone else's work as your own, though: if you use elements of another person's work, be sure to credit them. If you want to collaborate with another member, that's groovy, but arrange that over e-mail or IM, not the community space, please.

Challenge 011: Pitch It Real Good
You can be totally serious. You can be ironic. You can make it into a teen drama, a reality show, a musical, whatever. That's up to you.

• Title your post with a clear indicator of the challenge: "AB: Soap Opera Pitch" for example.
• Your pitch MUST be behind an LJ-cut
• You MUST include a disclaimer stating that the characters and world belong to LKH; if you use any images, music, writing samples, etc., they must also be properly credited
• No hardcore porn. If you want to push the sexual envelope, please e-mail the mods with your idea, and we'll address it personally
• Don't hotlink. If you want to use music or visuals, upload your stuff to your own space, or contact a mod. We may be able to help with hosting.