F(uu)MA | Guide to OT | CLOW | Resources | Contacts The CFFML's Guide to OT Released: June 11, 2001 Last Updated: March 3, 2002   The CLAMP Fanfiction Mailing List was created as a forum for fanfiction. It was intended to serve as a refuge for people who love reading and writing fanfiction, but who find the general discussion lists too much noise to wade through in order to get to the fics. Discussion is permitted and encouraged as long as it serves the list's primary purpose. However, once a discussion thread wanders away from the subject of fanfiction, it has gone off-topic and should be taken to another forum. And some topics simply don't belong on this list in the first place. This document is an attempt to lay out some of the boundaries of that murky and sometimes confusing region known as "off-topic." It doesn't pretend to be a complete list of allowed and disallowed postings; if a topic isn't specifically listed on this page, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's okay. Use this list as an expandable outline for what kinds of posts are or can become problematic, and, as in most things, let common sense and courtesy for others be your guide. If you feel anything here needs more clarification, or if you have other suggestions to add to this list, please email Beth (cffml@extenuation.net) The following are some examples of posts that are off-topic by any definition and should not be sent to the list: Spam: Spam is any sort of e-chain letter that asks to be forwarded on to other people. Do not post virus warnings, petitions, personality tests, snowball fights, or that thing about the sick kid who wants to get emails from all over the world before he dies. These are almost without exception a complete waste of computer bits. Satsuki would most certainly disapprove. Advertisements and auction notices: This includes any sort of promotional post that has nothing to do with fanfiction. It can be a plug for a website or an organization, the offer of some service, or a list of merchandise for sale or trade. Even if you're auctioning off CLAMP-related merchandise, please don't do so here. The same goes for requests for merchandise--don't ask people on the list to send you fansubs or to tell you where to get copies of the latest CLAMP manga. Manga artist and/or voice actor discussion: Love them, hate them, glomp all over them, or wonder what they're gonna do next--just not on the CFFML. Spontaneous series comments: If someone starts a thread about some aspect of a series, and the post has no bearing on either the writing of fanfiction in general or a specific fic in particular, that's definitely off-topic. Some examples would include a gushing response to the latest issue of Asuka, a speculation about a putative fifth book of Clover, or a discussion or defense of whether or not two characters belong together in a relationship. While one might argue that any discussion can be helpful to authors because it can help spark new ideas, that's too broad a definition of on-topic to be useful for the purposes of the list. (Series discussion in light of a specific fic or fanfiction in general is acceptable, although it tends to be a somewhat gray area. See the section below for more on this.) Personal chatter: Any sort of conversation that's not related to fanfiction is off-topic. Please remember that there are over five hundred people on the list, and they don't necessarily want to listen to you chat with your friends about your current life situation. While personal updates are fine when attached to a fic, C&Cs, or another on-topic post, any post that consists of nothing but a description of how busy you are or where you went on vacation belongs in your weblog, not on this list. ) ) ) ) ) () ( ( ( ( ( The following are examples of posts that are on the borderline--that is, they're just fine until they spawn problems: Role-playing: This topic is a bit murky, because role-playing could in some views be considered a form of creative writing. However, role-playing threads have a tendency to sprawl all over like kudzu and to incorporate a great deal of personal chatter and noise. For these reasons, some people find them highly annoying. Therefore, please limit your role-playing, multiple personality posts, and other in-character messages to posts that would otherwise be on-topic: for instance, an announcement of your latest fanfic site update, C&Cs, or the author's notes for your stories. Also, please be careful about holding in-character conversations with other list members. If these conversations wander away from fanfiction and/or start to take over the list's traffic, the admin may call for them to cease. Fan art posts: Technically, announcements of fan art are off-topic. However, so far these posts seem fairly infrequent and harmless. If the fan art is related to a fic, there's no problem at all; otherwise, the admin will tend to overlook such postings until and unless they become objectionable. Fic-related series discussion: If someone starts a general thread about why such-and-so is a common theme in fanfiction, that's perfectly on-topic. However, if the thread migrates in such a way that it no longer has that direct connection to fanfiction, it's time for it to fade away. The decision of where to draw the line is admittedly somewhat subjective; the current admin's stand is to let a thread go on as long as somebody somewhere in it is still talking specifically about fanfiction and the rest of the list doesn't seem too annoyed. But when a thread becomes primarily a defense of this interpretation against that one, the connection to fanfic has usually become tenuous at best. When other people become visibly sick of it, it should die. If someone responds to a posted fic by criticizing the characterization, the accuracy of the setting, and other elements that are drawn from the original series, that's also fine. So is the author explaining her interpretation. Those two can go back and forth quibbling over points in the fic as much as they like as long as they don't disrupt the rest of the list, and other people can jump in on either side. But the same thing applies as above. There comes a point where the fanfic is only the excuse to argue about whether character X would ever do this or that. When the focus becomes that diffuse, it's essentially off-topic. While critical discussion of fanfic is certainly welcome on the list, it's difficult to accomplish without getting into the particulars of the original series. And once a thread turns into a discussion of the original series, it rapidly wanders further and further away from fanfiction, frequently becoming a ceaselessly repeating argument--which is very tedious, especially for list members who have no interest in that particular series. Before posting a reply to a discussion thread, please do two things. First, check later postings to make sure that the admin hasn't already killed the thread. Second, consider very carefully whether what you have to say is worth prolonging a discussion. Try to get a feel for the current mood of the list, and if the thread has been going on for a long time and tempers are running short, please think twice before you post. Also, bear in mind that you can use the [FINAL] or [OWARI] tag to help keep the thread from proliferating--and remember that no one should reply to any post with such a tag on it. (Go back to the main F(uu)MA page for more about this.) The first rule of the list with regard to discussion is this: "Don't state it; fic it." Don't argue your case by telling us why you think things should be this way or that--write a fanfic that illuminates your point of view. "Help me with my fic!" posts: As mentioned on the main F(uu)MA page, while these requests are in and of themselves one hundred percent on topic and acceptable, the replies to them can sometimes be an issue. Whether someone's asking for a beta-reader or wants answers to specific questions about a series, please respond by private email wherever possible. "Who's going to Convention X?" posts: It's perfectly understandable that list members want to find out who's going to various cons so that get-togethers can be arranged. This is a case where replies to the list are just fine. Please keep an eye on where the conversation goes, however. If it turns into two or three people talking about their plans to hang out at the con, it's time to move to private mail. This list will probably always be a work-in-progress as new situations come up and demand adaptation. Significant updates will be announced on the CFFML itself. It's the responsibility of all list members to pay close attention and keep themselves advised of changes to this and to the F(uu)MA. I'd also like to note that many of the above-mentioned off-topic points, including I hope that all this doesn't sound like too much of a wet blanket on the list's fun. For a long time, we left these guidelines largely unspoken, but the sheer number of list members and the potential amount of traffic, plus a few unfortunate misunderstandings, have made it seem advisable to lay things out in more detail. Just remember that in the end we're all here for the stories; by posting to topic, you help to make sure that everyone can enjoy their favorite characters' ongoing adventures. Happy ficcing and reading! Beth Winter, cffml@extenuation.net Original Author: N-chan, firecat@gti.net   F(uu)MA | Guide to OT | CLOW | Resources | Contacts