Modly: New FAQ!
Oct. 28th, 2009 05:24 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
naeko.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
lkh_lashoutsWe finally got around to revising the FAQ! We've tried to be extremely comprehensive and make it very clear what our purpose is and what's acceptable. It looks like a massive, hulking wall o'text, but we think it all needs to be said. Please read it in its entirety and let us know if anything seems ridiculous, unfair, grammatically horrifying or unnecessary. We will review all concerns and decide how to proceed from there. To be honest, sections of the new FAQ are just like the old one, but we have grown as a community and therefore we have adapted the FAQ to the needs of a larger group.
In other news, we're now devoting our time to updating the website, Lashouts.org. It will house the FAQ, contact information for the mods (also located on the profile of the community), primers on Team LKH, and a variety of other things. If there's anything else you think the Lashouts website should have, please let us know!
If you're here, you have very likely heard of Laurell K. Hamilton (usually referred to as LKH). Most of us started out as fans, who eagerly bought and read her works. Unfortunately, as time went on, we started to notice problems arising in her two main series (Anita Blake and Merry Gentry): a marked lack of plot, a large change in the way the author represented her characters, a severe downturn in the editing of her books, a rise in unnecessary sexual activity involving Anita Blake. This culminated in a general unhappiness among the fandom. As fans are wont to do, we began to discuss these issues.
Unfortunately, there were still so many people who loved the books that we were met with outrage and anger. Instead of being willing to engage us in conversation, the happy fans felt attacked. Discussion was shut down with unhelpful phrases such as, "If you don't like it, don't read it!" and "They're Hamilton's books! She can do whatever she wants!" (If you're interested in our response to these phrases, some of them can be found here.) The boards at Hamilton's site, in fact, became intolerant of naysayers; anyone wanting to discuss their issues with the books (however politely) gets immediately warned, and occasionally banned. We wanted somewhere to discuss freely our issues without being shot down.
LKH_Lashouts was created!![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pith started the community with the hope that all viewpoints would be welcome here, even if they were not pleasant and did not solely exist to feed Hamilton's ego. It was slow-going at first, but soon the devolution of the books made more people search out an open-minded forum in which to discuss their dissatisfaction with Hamilton and her works. This is a place to discuss bettering the series and, even though that may not happen in canon, we can entertain outselves with what could be. We think everyone can agree that LKH has created some interesting worlds, concepts and characters. Most of us here really just want them to be the best they can be! Unfortunately, our vision of what could be split from Hamilton's vision somewhere around Blue Moon or Obsidian Butterfly.
We are not here specifically to be internet bullies. We are not a community dedicated to hating Hamilton. We are not here for you to feel big about tearing down someone else, and we are not here for the sole purpose of pointing out every flaw in Hamilton or her words. We are primarily about discussion. We discuss her books, her blogs, her interviews. We do take issue with her words and we do our fair share of headdesking at the ridiculous things she says. Some of us question her sanity, some of us question her ego. However, everyone here is expected to be mature and open-minded in their posts, comments, and any contributed content. Everyone here will be held to the following rules and guidelines, even if they do not read any of them. Keep that in mind as you go about enjoying the content we provide.
• Use common sense!
This rule really shouldn't need explaining, but it basically boils down to doing your best to avoid disrupting the community. If you need further clarification, the mods welcome questions! Members are expected to read and follow ALL the rules. If you break a rule, we will call you on it, and you claiming you didn't read the FAQ will not help your case.
• If in doubt, ask a mod.
If you read the FAQ and you're still not sure if a post you want to make will be allowed, feel free to ask! The mods would much rather have a discussion with you about what it is you want to post, than to have to take action against you for breaking a rule. Just because something isn't explicitly listed as forbidden (or allowed, for that matter) in the FAQ doesn't mean you should assume you're good to go with something possibly controversial. Please ask first!
• Don't flame. Don't plagiarize. Don't be a pain in the ass.
Essentially, don't be a troll in any sense of the word. We're assuming that all members of the community are adult enough to conduct themselves accordingly. Even if you're not legally of age, if you're here, you've been exposed to adult concepts and adult ideas. We expect you to act as if you can handle these concepts. We expect you to treat other members respectfully, as an adult would. Not everyone in the community with agree with what's being said, either by the poster, LKH herself, or by other commenters. This is perfectly acceptable! Differing opinions are what started this community after all! Remember these simple rules and there shouldn't be an issue:
• Attack the ideas, not the people who hold them.
• Be reasonable in your rants.
• Don't rag on LKH simply because she exists.
• Try to make insightful observations and comments.
• Quote ONLY what is necessary for your post
We don't need the full chapter, post, or blog if you're only discussing a small part. Make it clear with italics, boldface, blockquote, etc, what is the original quote you're referencing and what is your commentary. Please also state the source.
• When to use an LJ-Cut:
• Long entries of any sort. It's just courtesy.
• Images, out of courtesy for those with slow connections.
• Challenge entries, unless otherwise stated.
Not sure how to use an LJ-Cut? What are you doing on LJ? It's in the FAQ and can easily be searched. If your entry requires a cut, you will be given one request to use the cut tag. If your entry isn't cut within a reasonable amount of time, we will delete it.
• Don't be LKH.
Try your best to use proper spelling (unless you're mocking), punctuation, and grammar. Everyone makes typos now and then, but do your best. If English isn't your first language, don't worry: we won't hound you. But it is appreciated when people spellcheck their posts/comments. If it looks like you're making your best effort to communicate well, that's all we expect.
• Make sure your post is properly formatted
We understand that not everyone is aces with technology, and we don't expect you to be. However, remember that your post and comment will be seen by possibly hundreds of people. Remember that it has to be legible and easily read. If it's a long entry, make sure it has paragraph breaks. If you have many headings and text formats (italics, bolds, etc) please be sure all your tags are handled. Avoid run-on boldings or confusing html errors. If you're not sure if you've got everything correct, post the entry to your own journal first to check to make sure it looks right, or use the preview button in the Updater.
• Trinity
Every so often, people will bring up Hamilton's daughter, usually as an excuse to rag on LKH. Disagreeing with Hamilton's supposed parenting techniques is allowed, but be very careful how you broach the subject. We steer clear of talking about Trinity for several reasons, chief among them that she is not in the public eye. Her being Hamilton's child doesn't mean it's open season on speculation about her or her life. Hamilton does a good job keeping talk of her child to a minimum and, regardless of the reason for this, we try to follow suit.
• Attacks on physical appearance
Everyone can agree that Hamilton has a flair for the dramatic when it comes to her appearance. We certainly don't deny the possibility that her makeup choices, clothing and outlandish shoes imply that she wants people to talk about her appearance. However, as with everything else, there is a limit to what's acceptable. Most everyone in this community will agree if you say that Hamilton needs to tone down the lipstick or hair. However, you will be Mod!smacked if your comments consist of nothing but rude name-calling and fat jokes. Try, above all, to be mature in your comments.
• Simple introductions
Don't get us wrong! We're glad you're here, but we don't need to know your life story to enjoy your company. Feel free to introduce yourself within the body of a more comprehensive, Hamilton-related post, but any posts that are simply a hello without content will be deleted.
• Unrelated advertising/pimping
We are not interested in your unrelated art, communities, websites, videos, etc. If your link is relevant to Hamilton, feel free to include it in a post that tells us all about it and how it's interesting to this community.
• Large excerpts of LKH's work.
Everyone loves a good book flog! However, simply copy/pasting the text of Hamilton's books with no intent to flog or comment is uncalled for and illegal.
• Threats (etc.) to LKH, her family, her employees, etc
Remember, folks, we're here to have fun. Our original purpose was to have a place away from the rabid fangirls to discuss our adoration for, and problems with, books and an author who had jumped the shark. Threats not only go against the purpose of this community, they are also completely uncalled for and can be met with legal action. We take these very seriously, so tone it down. Know the difference between something comical, like, "Hamilton needs to be slapped with a trout and snapped out of her ego!" and something harsh like, "I want to hit this woman with my car!" Use your best judgement and, if you're not sure if it's acceptable, delete it and start over.
• Fanworks
We are primarily a discussion community and we do not allow icons, fanfic, fanart, etc, outside of challenge parameters. If you are participating in a challenge, make sure to state this clearly and follow all challenge rules!
• Posting private e-mails/IMs/etc.
Unless something is publicly accessible in a book, blog, newsletter, interview, forum post, etc, please don't post it. Someone communicating with you via email, private forum post, IM, etc is doing so in private, not expecting it to be put before an audience. Please respect this.
• Oneliners/very short posts.
You don't have to write an essay by any means, but aim for more than 5 or 6 lines—and that's lines of content, not filler. Outside links must be explained, rants must have content, and posts just made to state a single line of disgust will be deleted. You can rant like that on your journal, but we are here for discussion and you must at least appear to have something interesting to say.
• Who issues the challenges?
Challenges will come directly from a mod, at all times. If you have an idea for one, let us know, but do not post it yourself. We are always totally open to suggestions and would love for people to bring forth ideas for more challenges!
• When are challenges issued? When do they end? How often can I enter a challenge?
There is no set schedule for challenges: they're announced whenever a mod has an idea for one or if someone's suggested a challenge. There is no set end date, so if you join and see a challenge from months or years ago that tickles your fancy, have at it! Unless otherwise stated, you can enter any challenge as often as you like; challenges are open to all members.
• What are the posting rules for challenges?
Each challenge will have specific rules, so please refer to the post in which the challenge rules are explained. Aside from that, all the general community rules must be followed, unless otherwise stated by a mod. For example, a fanfic challenge obviously cancels out the "no fanworks" rule—but ONLY in the scope and duration of the challenge.
It became apparent at the very inception of Lashouts that it would be open season on Hamilton's blog. She started the blog, supposedly to talk about her writing, her tours, her career. Lashers would link to the blog and quote parts of it, mocking Hamilton's words as she went on. As the years went by, Hamilton's blog changed, as did Lashouts. Hamilton was posting more about her personal life than about her writing, and Lashers were getting a little too personal, a little too cruel and a little too repetitive in their floggings. Too many people wanted to flog the same blogs, creating a lot of redundant posts and comments. People had a problem when the rules changed and only one person was allowed to flog each blog, on a first come first serve basis.
We startedblogfloggery for the mods to post Hamilton's blogs (noting that we do not own copyright, of course!) for everyone to flog. We had a trial run and then let Lashers vote; people liked the process and wanted to keep it. As it stands, Blogfloggery is the only "member" allowed to post Hamilton's blogs. If there is an older blog that you don't see flogged that you would like to bring up, please speak to the mods about it. Other people posting Hamilton's blogs will be mod!hammered and their post deleted. We do not post every blog that Hamilton writes; as previously stated, many of Hamilton's blogs have become about her personal life and too many people were getting too personal in their comments, taking to unpleasant attacks instead of aiming for insightful and/or interesting discussion. We are currently not allowing posts that are solely about her personal life and do not discuss her writing or her career.
Blogfloggery itself has no content. There is no need to friend it, for you will never see it appear on your friends' page by itself. Blogfloggery is not a personal journal and the only content it will provide are posts to Lashouts.
How do I contact a mod?
The best way to contact us is the form on the profile page. If you do not hear back from us in a reasonable amount of time, you may comment directly onnaeko's or dwg's journal. We handle most of the day to day issues with the community.
Are there any content ratings?
There's no content censorship here, and we'd like to keep it that way. Since the books include graphic sex and violence, these topics can be expected to come up in discussions. Likewise, there is no restriction on profanity, but keep in mind this quotation: "Profanity is the crutch of a crippled vocabulary." Translation? Use moderation. While there is no official age restriction on the community, we don't usually expect to be speaking to children or young teens. If you're underaged, please be aware that you're basically in the minority and we won't be holding back. If this is a problem for you or your parents, you should probably not be here.
What can I post about?
Anything and everything LKH. We dissect her blog, bash the books, knock the fanclub newsletter, etc. All of LKH's works and words are fair game: novels, short stories, interviews, blog entries, tweets, etc. It doesn't matter how old something is or if it's already been discussed. Double posts are discouraged: if a topic has just recently been brought up, please comment on the existing post, instead of duplicating the discussion on a new post. We also welcome suggestions of authors as alternatives to LKH, post reviews of LKH's work, post updates on LKH's work, etc. As long as it somehow relates to LKH, it's valid.
What if I'm looking for one of Hamilton's books?
If you're looking to acquire any of Hamilton's books, for whatever reason (hey, we're not here to judge), there are a few good resources:
• Amazon.com has many copies of her books available used.
• Bookmooch.com occasionally pops up with copies of her books; this is a book trading site, so you will not have to pay for her books, only for the cost of postage to send out unwanted books of your own.
• Ebay.com is another place to buy her books without really giving her money.
How should entries be formatted?
Some incarnation of the following is required:
Interview rants
For rants about interviews (or any of her writing: books/short stories/tweets), state your source, and link to it if possible. If you are quoting any part of the interview, make it clear who said what and set the original text off from your rant by italic/bold/blockquote text. It must be clear what is your opinion and what was actually said in the interview. Please make the entry subject state what you're mocking, in case someone wishes to refer to your post later.
Challenges
Title the entry with the challenge subject, and follow all challenge rules. We will hold you responsible for breaking any challenge rules, even if you haven't read them.
Tweets
• Each post must have actual content! We don't want to see only a link to the tweet and/or the tweet itself alongside a one-liner from you. If you're bringing the tweet to our attention, you'd better have several lines explaining why we should all care.
• If the tweet is in context of a Twitter conversation, you must either explain what the conversation was, or put the whole conversation into the post. Truthfully, twitter conversations can be quite difficult to follow, so we're warning you now that you will probably get a lot of flak for this.
• Should the tweet in question fall under the above category, you must make sure that the conversation that you are reposting is not a private one. If one half of the conversation has his or her updates protected, you are not allowed to repost them unless they are your tweets.
• You must link to the tweet itself. If you're getting these from twitter's website, that's not too hard. Click the time stamp on the tweet and use the URL attached to it.
• To cut or not to cut? For now, we're not demanding anything be under a cut; tweets are short, and the conversation they spark is something we're hoping everyone will either be interested in or just have the finger strength to scroll past. If there's an overwhelming clamor to have anything twitter-related cut, though, we'll consider making it a hard and fast rule.
These may vary, depending on the severity of the incident. Usually, mods will give one warning, in comment form, if your post breaks a rule or is unacceptable in some way. If you do not respond or comply with our modly requests within an acceptable amount of time, we reserve the right to delete your post, along with all comments received.
For unacceptable comments, we are less kind. You will be warned, your comment frozen and screened, and we will probably make a mental note that you were a pain in the ass. We reserve the right to delete your comment without warning if we find that it really pushes the envelope.
If further action must be taken, such as banning or suspension, we will handle this directly with you. There is no need to involve the community and start up drama, so please don't think your outlandish actions will get you fame and fortune within the community. There is a good chance that, to everyone else, it will look as if you simply stopped commenting and posting.
In other news, we're now devoting our time to updating the website, Lashouts.org. It will house the FAQ, contact information for the mods (also located on the profile of the community), primers on Team LKH, and a variety of other things. If there's anything else you think the Lashouts website should have, please let us know!
Welcome to LKH_Lashouts!
If you're here, you have very likely heard of Laurell K. Hamilton (usually referred to as LKH). Most of us started out as fans, who eagerly bought and read her works. Unfortunately, as time went on, we started to notice problems arising in her two main series (Anita Blake and Merry Gentry): a marked lack of plot, a large change in the way the author represented her characters, a severe downturn in the editing of her books, a rise in unnecessary sexual activity involving Anita Blake. This culminated in a general unhappiness among the fandom. As fans are wont to do, we began to discuss these issues.
Unfortunately, there were still so many people who loved the books that we were met with outrage and anger. Instead of being willing to engage us in conversation, the happy fans felt attacked. Discussion was shut down with unhelpful phrases such as, "If you don't like it, don't read it!" and "They're Hamilton's books! She can do whatever she wants!" (If you're interested in our response to these phrases, some of them can be found here.) The boards at Hamilton's site, in fact, became intolerant of naysayers; anyone wanting to discuss their issues with the books (however politely) gets immediately warned, and occasionally banned. We wanted somewhere to discuss freely our issues without being shot down.
LKH_Lashouts was created!
pith started the community with the hope that all viewpoints would be welcome here, even if they were not pleasant and did not solely exist to feed Hamilton's ego. It was slow-going at first, but soon the devolution of the books made more people search out an open-minded forum in which to discuss their dissatisfaction with Hamilton and her works. This is a place to discuss bettering the series and, even though that may not happen in canon, we can entertain outselves with what could be. We think everyone can agree that LKH has created some interesting worlds, concepts and characters. Most of us here really just want them to be the best they can be! Unfortunately, our vision of what could be split from Hamilton's vision somewhere around Blue Moon or Obsidian Butterfly.We are not here specifically to be internet bullies. We are not a community dedicated to hating Hamilton. We are not here for you to feel big about tearing down someone else, and we are not here for the sole purpose of pointing out every flaw in Hamilton or her words. We are primarily about discussion. We discuss her books, her blogs, her interviews. We do take issue with her words and we do our fair share of headdesking at the ridiculous things she says. Some of us question her sanity, some of us question her ego. However, everyone here is expected to be mature and open-minded in their posts, comments, and any contributed content. Everyone here will be held to the following rules and guidelines, even if they do not read any of them. Keep that in mind as you go about enjoying the content we provide.
The Basic Rules:
• Use common sense!
This rule really shouldn't need explaining, but it basically boils down to doing your best to avoid disrupting the community. If you need further clarification, the mods welcome questions! Members are expected to read and follow ALL the rules. If you break a rule, we will call you on it, and you claiming you didn't read the FAQ will not help your case.
• If in doubt, ask a mod.
If you read the FAQ and you're still not sure if a post you want to make will be allowed, feel free to ask! The mods would much rather have a discussion with you about what it is you want to post, than to have to take action against you for breaking a rule. Just because something isn't explicitly listed as forbidden (or allowed, for that matter) in the FAQ doesn't mean you should assume you're good to go with something possibly controversial. Please ask first!
• Don't flame. Don't plagiarize. Don't be a pain in the ass.
Essentially, don't be a troll in any sense of the word. We're assuming that all members of the community are adult enough to conduct themselves accordingly. Even if you're not legally of age, if you're here, you've been exposed to adult concepts and adult ideas. We expect you to act as if you can handle these concepts. We expect you to treat other members respectfully, as an adult would. Not everyone in the community with agree with what's being said, either by the poster, LKH herself, or by other commenters. This is perfectly acceptable! Differing opinions are what started this community after all! Remember these simple rules and there shouldn't be an issue:
• Attack the ideas, not the people who hold them.
• Be reasonable in your rants.
• Don't rag on LKH simply because she exists.
• Try to make insightful observations and comments.
• Quote ONLY what is necessary for your post
We don't need the full chapter, post, or blog if you're only discussing a small part. Make it clear with italics, boldface, blockquote, etc, what is the original quote you're referencing and what is your commentary. Please also state the source.
• When to use an LJ-Cut:
• Long entries of any sort. It's just courtesy.
• Images, out of courtesy for those with slow connections.
• Challenge entries, unless otherwise stated.
Not sure how to use an LJ-Cut? What are you doing on LJ? It's in the FAQ and can easily be searched. If your entry requires a cut, you will be given one request to use the cut tag. If your entry isn't cut within a reasonable amount of time, we will delete it.
• Don't be LKH.
Try your best to use proper spelling (unless you're mocking), punctuation, and grammar. Everyone makes typos now and then, but do your best. If English isn't your first language, don't worry: we won't hound you. But it is appreciated when people spellcheck their posts/comments. If it looks like you're making your best effort to communicate well, that's all we expect.
• Make sure your post is properly formatted
We understand that not everyone is aces with technology, and we don't expect you to be. However, remember that your post and comment will be seen by possibly hundreds of people. Remember that it has to be legible and easily read. If it's a long entry, make sure it has paragraph breaks. If you have many headings and text formats (italics, bolds, etc) please be sure all your tags are handled. Avoid run-on boldings or confusing html errors. If you're not sure if you've got everything correct, post the entry to your own journal first to check to make sure it looks right, or use the preview button in the Updater.
Off-limits subjects/content:
• Trinity
Every so often, people will bring up Hamilton's daughter, usually as an excuse to rag on LKH. Disagreeing with Hamilton's supposed parenting techniques is allowed, but be very careful how you broach the subject. We steer clear of talking about Trinity for several reasons, chief among them that she is not in the public eye. Her being Hamilton's child doesn't mean it's open season on speculation about her or her life. Hamilton does a good job keeping talk of her child to a minimum and, regardless of the reason for this, we try to follow suit.
• Attacks on physical appearance
Everyone can agree that Hamilton has a flair for the dramatic when it comes to her appearance. We certainly don't deny the possibility that her makeup choices, clothing and outlandish shoes imply that she wants people to talk about her appearance. However, as with everything else, there is a limit to what's acceptable. Most everyone in this community will agree if you say that Hamilton needs to tone down the lipstick or hair. However, you will be Mod!smacked if your comments consist of nothing but rude name-calling and fat jokes. Try, above all, to be mature in your comments.
• Simple introductions
Don't get us wrong! We're glad you're here, but we don't need to know your life story to enjoy your company. Feel free to introduce yourself within the body of a more comprehensive, Hamilton-related post, but any posts that are simply a hello without content will be deleted.
• Unrelated advertising/pimping
We are not interested in your unrelated art, communities, websites, videos, etc. If your link is relevant to Hamilton, feel free to include it in a post that tells us all about it and how it's interesting to this community.
• Large excerpts of LKH's work.
Everyone loves a good book flog! However, simply copy/pasting the text of Hamilton's books with no intent to flog or comment is uncalled for and illegal.
• Threats (etc.) to LKH, her family, her employees, etc
Remember, folks, we're here to have fun. Our original purpose was to have a place away from the rabid fangirls to discuss our adoration for, and problems with, books and an author who had jumped the shark. Threats not only go against the purpose of this community, they are also completely uncalled for and can be met with legal action. We take these very seriously, so tone it down. Know the difference between something comical, like, "Hamilton needs to be slapped with a trout and snapped out of her ego!" and something harsh like, "I want to hit this woman with my car!" Use your best judgement and, if you're not sure if it's acceptable, delete it and start over.
• Fanworks
We are primarily a discussion community and we do not allow icons, fanfic, fanart, etc, outside of challenge parameters. If you are participating in a challenge, make sure to state this clearly and follow all challenge rules!
• Posting private e-mails/IMs/etc.
Unless something is publicly accessible in a book, blog, newsletter, interview, forum post, etc, please don't post it. Someone communicating with you via email, private forum post, IM, etc is doing so in private, not expecting it to be put before an audience. Please respect this.
• Oneliners/very short posts.
You don't have to write an essay by any means, but aim for more than 5 or 6 lines—and that's lines of content, not filler. Outside links must be explained, rants must have content, and posts just made to state a single line of disgust will be deleted. You can rant like that on your journal, but we are here for discussion and you must at least appear to have something interesting to say.
Challenges
• Who issues the challenges?
Challenges will come directly from a mod, at all times. If you have an idea for one, let us know, but do not post it yourself. We are always totally open to suggestions and would love for people to bring forth ideas for more challenges!
• When are challenges issued? When do they end? How often can I enter a challenge?
There is no set schedule for challenges: they're announced whenever a mod has an idea for one or if someone's suggested a challenge. There is no set end date, so if you join and see a challenge from months or years ago that tickles your fancy, have at it! Unless otherwise stated, you can enter any challenge as often as you like; challenges are open to all members.
• What are the posting rules for challenges?
Each challenge will have specific rules, so please refer to the post in which the challenge rules are explained. Aside from that, all the general community rules must be followed, unless otherwise stated by a mod. For example, a fanfic challenge obviously cancels out the "no fanworks" rule—but ONLY in the scope and duration of the challenge.
Blogfloggery
It became apparent at the very inception of Lashouts that it would be open season on Hamilton's blog. She started the blog, supposedly to talk about her writing, her tours, her career. Lashers would link to the blog and quote parts of it, mocking Hamilton's words as she went on. As the years went by, Hamilton's blog changed, as did Lashouts. Hamilton was posting more about her personal life than about her writing, and Lashers were getting a little too personal, a little too cruel and a little too repetitive in their floggings. Too many people wanted to flog the same blogs, creating a lot of redundant posts and comments. People had a problem when the rules changed and only one person was allowed to flog each blog, on a first come first serve basis.
We started
blogfloggery for the mods to post Hamilton's blogs (noting that we do not own copyright, of course!) for everyone to flog. We had a trial run and then let Lashers vote; people liked the process and wanted to keep it. As it stands, Blogfloggery is the only "member" allowed to post Hamilton's blogs. If there is an older blog that you don't see flogged that you would like to bring up, please speak to the mods about it. Other people posting Hamilton's blogs will be mod!hammered and their post deleted. We do not post every blog that Hamilton writes; as previously stated, many of Hamilton's blogs have become about her personal life and too many people were getting too personal in their comments, taking to unpleasant attacks instead of aiming for insightful and/or interesting discussion. We are currently not allowing posts that are solely about her personal life and do not discuss her writing or her career.Blogfloggery itself has no content. There is no need to friend it, for you will never see it appear on your friends' page by itself. Blogfloggery is not a personal journal and the only content it will provide are posts to Lashouts.
General FAQ:
How do I contact a mod?
The best way to contact us is the form on the profile page. If you do not hear back from us in a reasonable amount of time, you may comment directly on
naeko's or dwg's journal. We handle most of the day to day issues with the community.Are there any content ratings?
There's no content censorship here, and we'd like to keep it that way. Since the books include graphic sex and violence, these topics can be expected to come up in discussions. Likewise, there is no restriction on profanity, but keep in mind this quotation: "Profanity is the crutch of a crippled vocabulary." Translation? Use moderation. While there is no official age restriction on the community, we don't usually expect to be speaking to children or young teens. If you're underaged, please be aware that you're basically in the minority and we won't be holding back. If this is a problem for you or your parents, you should probably not be here.
What can I post about?
Anything and everything LKH. We dissect her blog, bash the books, knock the fanclub newsletter, etc. All of LKH's works and words are fair game: novels, short stories, interviews, blog entries, tweets, etc. It doesn't matter how old something is or if it's already been discussed. Double posts are discouraged: if a topic has just recently been brought up, please comment on the existing post, instead of duplicating the discussion on a new post. We also welcome suggestions of authors as alternatives to LKH, post reviews of LKH's work, post updates on LKH's work, etc. As long as it somehow relates to LKH, it's valid.
What if I'm looking for one of Hamilton's books?
If you're looking to acquire any of Hamilton's books, for whatever reason (hey, we're not here to judge), there are a few good resources:
• Amazon.com has many copies of her books available used.
• Bookmooch.com occasionally pops up with copies of her books; this is a book trading site, so you will not have to pay for her books, only for the cost of postage to send out unwanted books of your own.
• Ebay.com is another place to buy her books without really giving her money.
How should entries be formatted?
Some incarnation of the following is required:
Interview rants
For rants about interviews (or any of her writing: books/short stories/tweets), state your source, and link to it if possible. If you are quoting any part of the interview, make it clear who said what and set the original text off from your rant by italic/bold/blockquote text. It must be clear what is your opinion and what was actually said in the interview. Please make the entry subject state what you're mocking, in case someone wishes to refer to your post later.
Challenges
Title the entry with the challenge subject, and follow all challenge rules. We will hold you responsible for breaking any challenge rules, even if you haven't read them.
Tweets
• Each post must have actual content! We don't want to see only a link to the tweet and/or the tweet itself alongside a one-liner from you. If you're bringing the tweet to our attention, you'd better have several lines explaining why we should all care.
• If the tweet is in context of a Twitter conversation, you must either explain what the conversation was, or put the whole conversation into the post. Truthfully, twitter conversations can be quite difficult to follow, so we're warning you now that you will probably get a lot of flak for this.
• Should the tweet in question fall under the above category, you must make sure that the conversation that you are reposting is not a private one. If one half of the conversation has his or her updates protected, you are not allowed to repost them unless they are your tweets.
• You must link to the tweet itself. If you're getting these from twitter's website, that's not too hard. Click the time stamp on the tweet and use the URL attached to it.
• To cut or not to cut? For now, we're not demanding anything be under a cut; tweets are short, and the conversation they spark is something we're hoping everyone will either be interested in or just have the finger strength to scroll past. If there's an overwhelming clamor to have anything twitter-related cut, though, we'll consider making it a hard and fast rule.
Consequences and Punishments
These may vary, depending on the severity of the incident. Usually, mods will give one warning, in comment form, if your post breaks a rule or is unacceptable in some way. If you do not respond or comply with our modly requests within an acceptable amount of time, we reserve the right to delete your post, along with all comments received.
For unacceptable comments, we are less kind. You will be warned, your comment frozen and screened, and we will probably make a mental note that you were a pain in the ass. We reserve the right to delete your comment without warning if we find that it really pushes the envelope.
If further action must be taken, such as banning or suspension, we will handle this directly with you. There is no need to involve the community and start up drama, so please don't think your outlandish actions will get you fame and fortune within the community. There is a good chance that, to everyone else, it will look as if you simply stopped commenting and posting.
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