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2018 Olympics FAQ
The KuroFai Olympics (or as I usually end up typing, Olympfics) are a friendly team-based writing competition between two teams writing opposing themes of fiction, based around the same set of subthemes, and this year the Main themes are either Gods or Machines and the Subthemes being “Untranslatable Words”.
Each team will have the same number of competitors, and each competitor will square off against the other team’s competitor using the same prompt, with both posting their fics on the same day as determined by the posting schedule.
For example:
The posting schedule for the Olympics starts on the 13th of August. Fai and Sakura are both competitors for Team Gods; Kurogane and Syaoran for Team Machines, and they are assigned their prompts as follows:
History: Fai vs Kurogane
Fortune: Sakura vs Syaoran
Pinch-Hitters: Mokona, Kyle.
Mod: Yuuko
History is scheduled to be posted on the 13th, and Fortune on the 14th, according to the posting schedule. When the 13th comes around, Fai posts his Team Gods fic, and Kurogane his Team Machines. The next day, on the 14th, Sakura posts her Team Gods fic, and Syaoran his Team Machines fic. It doesn't matter who posts first out of either team's scheduled posters, only that they post on the day itself. This works out great for Sakura, as her timezone allows her to post her fic in the morning, and it also means that even though it's night time for Syaoran when he posts, it's still on the same date.
Wait - Untranslatable? Can you explain further?
Think of petrichor - the scent preceding a gentle rain. While the word physically has a way to describe it and a scientific reason for it, it’s not like green. Almost every language in the world has a word for green, but not every language has petrichor in its vocabulary. As such, the upcoming Subthemes will all feature a similar Word that needs to get wordy to get the jist of the original word because it doesn’t have a word that means the same thing.
Okay, that makes more sense. But what do the Olympics need to work?
Lots of things.
Writers: folks who will be available to finish a story by the deadline, available enough to meet bi weekly (give or take) check ins, who have a love for KuroFai.
Teams: must have equal numbers of competitors with about equal enthusiasm for writing and reading new fics about these two amazing people.
R&R: That good ole Read and Review comes back. From the date the fics are published, and up until the 31st of August, we will need our lovely readers to step up and read and review (with our handy dandy little scoring placard). Mods are welcome to Read and Review but will not be allowed to score fics. (There will not be playing to the judges - this isn’t Cards Against Humanity)
Edit: Writers will be allowed to Read , Review and Score all fics but the one(s) they wrote.
Pinch-hitters: A stand-by writer, in case someone who signs up with a team has to step down for any reason (life obligations, sick, believe they won't finish on time, etc.) so they will step up to write for the prompt left vacant. If a competitor feels they need to step down, please let a Mod know as soon as possible, and the Mods will then ask a pinch-hitter to take over their prompt. Should you be unreachable for two days after a scheduled check in, a pinch hitter will be called upon to take over.
To give a Pinch-Hitter the most time to write, their posting day will be moved to the last posting day. Should two need to step down, the first Pinch Hitter and their competitor will get the day before the last and the newest Pinch Hitter and their competitor will have the last posting day
Using the early example, let’s say Fai broke his leg and is now in the hospital and can’t write anymore so he sends Mod Yuuko a note, saying he won’t be able to finish on time. So the Pinch hitter Mokona would fill in for him and Kurogane and Mokona would then post on the same day.
Following the earlier example, say Syaoran mid competition has to work extra shifts and barely has time for sleep much less writing. So when he fails to check in for two days at the second check in, the next pinch hitter, Kyle, is called in to write. Now Mokona and Kurogane post on the day before the last, and Sakura and Kyle post on the last day.
Failure to finish on time and the Mods must enact the Penalty Card.
What? There’s a Penalty Card? What is this? Sports?
Not sports but it is a competition, after all. That said, in order to make it fair and safe for everyone, there will be points lost for missing fics, incomplete ones and, new this year, ones that are not tagged properly.
So would you explain what this Penalty Card is?
Certainly.
No Story Posted: While this has happened due to unfortunate circumstance, it does result in a total loss of points. A zero for that story.
Late but Complete Fic: 1 Point Docked.
Incomplete Story Posted: 1-2 Points docked from that story.
Not Tagged Properly: 2 Points.
What’s this Not Tagged Properly?
Because of the sensitivity of subjects, all of these subjects MUST be clearly warned about should they appear in your story. At the bottom of the story under the cut is not clearly warned about.
Non-Con, Sexual violence, Dub-con, Underage, Sexual Kinks, Omega verse, Graphic Violence, Self Harm, Suicide or Suicidal thoughts
Things like Language, Drug Use, Implied (sensitive subject), etc. are not required but are welcome to make the story that much more reader-friendly.
While not mandatory, stories featuring material from the events after Acid Tokyo, AU or Canon based, have a new tag available to them. It’s called NSFN (Not Safe for Nick/Newbies) and will make this even more reader-friendly.
Failure to comply with the Must be warned about rule results in a 2 Point loss for that story.
Hey Mods, 2 points… that seems a little harsh...
Perhaps, however…this is the ONLY category that has another side effect. Should a story be reviewed and the majority agree it has been tagged properly, then 2 Points will be added to that story’s score.
WAIT - ARE YOU SAYING A TWELVE POINT STORY IS POSSIBLE?
Last year, the best was 9.25 Points and years ago, someone did write a 10 Point story… so yes, a 12 Point story is quite possible.
Do I have to post my fic on Dreamwidth?
The fic, not necessarily. But you do need to make an entry post. That is, a post where you either post under a cut or provide a link to the location where your fic is posted, filling the entry template which will be posted later. It makes for one centralised location for readers to vote for you. You're perfectly welcome to post on tumblr, fanfiction, AO3 or anywhere else, as long as it is accessible to the public, and you link back here.
What if I post in on (other site's name) and they vote there?
Those votes would not count. Only votes posted in this Dreamwidth Community will count to your story's score.
Can I vote anonymously?
Using anonymous, yes. Being anonymous, no. Anonymous votes must have a reachable form of social contact to count.
I've seen some really gorgeous art for the Olympics this year, as posters and banners.
There has been a lot of gorgeous art over the years indeed. We're willing to sacrifice a limb (or at least ask really kindly to the community) for some art for this year, and an-actual-lion has been really kind and volunteered.
What if I can’t write competitively?
There is nothing to prevent you from writing a fic of your own to match the theme or a prompt you really like (I did that last year when I was a Mod). We simply ask that you don’t post it during the Week (give or take) that the Teams will be posting theirs.
But... I'm not a writer- does this mean I can't join in the fun?
Not at all. Artists and Readers are also welcome to have fun with this.
Hey, about that Score Placard…
Yes it will look like this:
With 1 being the very worst and 10 being the very best, how well do you think this story did?
1. How well did this fic fit the prompt?
2. How well written was the fic?
3. How much did you enjoy the fic?
And please answer Yes/No
4. Was this fic tagged properly?
Questions 1-3 will have a maximum of 30 points available (and when you divide that by 3, you could get a solid 10 Pointer)
Regarding 4, if the Yes outweigh the No, then +2 Points. If the No outweigh the Yes than -2 Points.
If the Penalty Card had to come in for Late and or Unfinished, then those Points will be taken out when we do the scoring.
Uh...hey, so what timezone are we posting in? Because I live somewhere in the multiverse and time is different here...
This competition will continue to be run on Los Angeles Local Time, give or take a few hours leeway. So you need to figure out what your timezone is compared to L.A.'s, and make sure you post accordingly. That said, time zones are an illusion we gave ourselves, so as long as you post within an hour or two of midnight on the day of your posting, you won’t be docked points. If you post after the next competitors’ have started posting for their prompt, however, that late penalty card comes into play.
Gotcha! This whole thing sounds awesome! Is there anything else I should know?
Just a few more things to wrap up this really long and information-packed guide:
1. All fics entered in the Olympics must be new, original works written for the appropriate prompt by a single participant. You may ask your teammates/friends/family to help you out with coming up with an idea and you can ask anyone even Mods to beta your fic once it's written, but you have to write it.
No, you can't take a draft fic you had prepared earlier and jazz it up for the prompt, either. (We may not have proof but this is where your honor comes in. Write something new for your honor.)
Edit: Fic outlines are acceptable and allowed so long as you have not begun writing fic for it before you receive your prompt.
2. There's no minimum or maximum length of entries; if you can tell a story in a thousand words, more power to you, and if it takes you fifty thousand, that's great too. However, a word count of between five thousand to twenty thousand for the length of your fic is generally recommended. Full length novels might not get read in time and shorter fics may have trouble expressing your subtheme.
3. Taking prompts literally… Over the course of several Olympics, we have seen many of those fics lost points for taking the prompt too literally. So, while there is nothing wrong with a literal reading of a prompt, it may hurt your story’s score.
What if I have a question about something else?
No problem; just post it in the comments, and after there’s an answer, I'll put it into the body of the FAQ
Question
(Sorry if this is a stupid question.) Do fic outlines also fall under this rule? I have a couple of ideas that might fit this year's prompts that I've jotted stuff down for but haven't started actually writing yet. I just wanted to doublecheck ahead of time so I didn't use them if that wasn't in the spirit of the rules!
Re: Question
As long as you have not began writing story for it before you have your prompt, fic outlines are acceptable and allowed.
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Question about deadlines
Re: Question about deadlines
Same thing happened to me :( Unfortunately, the groups are full. You can no longer sign up. The participants were decided based on who signed up first the day the Team Sign Up opened. However, they are always looking for pinch-hitters in case someone drops out later on in the Olympics, so you could volunteer for that! If so, I recommend checking back regularly, because filling in dropped spots is also first come, first serve.
Re: Question about deadlines
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