Kurogane/Fai

 
You're not dreaming, folks: we're looking to bring back that fandom institution, that fantastical fanfic extravaganza, that fabulous festival that is the KuroFai Olympics back for the seventh year running!

But Clover, I can hear you asking, what exactly are the KuroFai Olympics?

That's a great question! The KuroFai Olympics are a friendly, fan-run fanfiction writing event, where two teams working with paired-but-mirrored themes compete to create fanfiction entries based on a series of prompts. The Olympians for each team write frantically over the course of several weeks to finish their entry for their respectively assigned prompts, and then the teams post according to a roster during the much-anticipated posting week... and then comes the voting! Fans vote for their favourite entries in accordance to a scoring rubric, and at the end of the voting period, the scores are tallied up to name a winner!

Clover, that really sounds more like a writing contest than the Olympics. Don't the Olympics have, like, sports and naked oil wrestling or something?

You have a point - it is a contest in a sense, but the name comes from the concept of the Fandom Olympics, which it was inspired by way back when the very first KuroFai-specific Olympics was held on livejournal. And even though it's technically a contest between teams, there are no winners or losers or medals - just a little friendly competition, and a whole lot of amazing fic to read! Besides, no-one's saying you can't strip Kurogane and Fai, cover them in oil and make them wrestle in your fic - just as long as it fits the theme!

...Thank you for that stunning mental image.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but you're welcome! [wink]

Still, naked oil wrestling or not, it sounds like a lot of fun! When's it being held? Who's running it? What's the theme for the teams, and where's the prompt list? When do we start writing, and when do we vote?

Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's a lot of questions that we don't have the answers to yet... and that's what this post is for.

This is an Expression of Interest: we're looking for volunteers to be the contest moderators (the hardworking peeps that run the show), ideas for themes for the teams to compete in (such as Fantasy vs. Sci Fi, Angst vs. Fluff, Canon vs. AU and so on), and suggestions for what dates we should hold the event on (remembering that we need it to be fair for as many people as possible, and accommodate an international calendar - we've got fans all over the world who'd like to join in the fun!).

If you can supply any of the above, we want to hear from you! I've put together three separate threads for volunteers, themes, and dates respectively down below,  as well as a miscellaneous suggestion thread, so if you can, please drop a comment to the appropriate thread with your suggestions!

Hey Clover, didn't you run the event one year? Why can't you just run it again?

You're absolutely right, I sure did - back in 2015. And I don't think I can do it again: I'm a lover writer, not a event-runner, and while I had a blast doing it, it played merry hell with my anxiety. Because of that, it's probably best I stick to doing what I do best: writing about the scowly ninja and his mage husband, and leaving the hard work to other people. Basically, I'm anxious and also lazy, and I wanna write for this year's Olympics - which is a lot harder to do when you're running the whole thing behind the scenes.

That said, I am more than happy to help out to the brave souls that step up to the plate and take their places as event moderators - and as an admin for the comm, I'll lend as much behind-the-scenes help as I possibly can. Now, since I a) work full-time, and b) live in The Land Down Under (aka Australia, aka really bloody far away) it might take me a little bit to get back to you, but please don't hesitate to chat amongst yourselves. I'll chip in when I can to help you out, and I have faith everyone will be polite and friendly to one another! (Because if you're not, then I'll feed you to Mokona [cheerful grin])

SO! Please check out the threads below, and reply to any where you think you have an idea or a suggestion - to make this year's event a successful one, we need all the input we can get!

Thanks, Clover! This sounds really exciting - I can't wait to get involved!

Me too, friend, me too! [finger guns]

EDIT: So far, we have the wonderful animangod , flowerspeaks  and aquarius_galuxy  as part of our moderating team - hopefully we can finalise our whole team soon! I'll update the post again once everyone is confirmed!

Congratulations, everyone! The 2015 KuroFai Olympics is officially closed! We could not have done it without our teams of writers, our pinch-hitters; our proof-readers and betas, our artists who created posters and banners, our readers and voters, and all of the CLAMPers who spread the word and spread the love! Thank you so much to all of you who participated, and especially to our hard-writing members of Team Fantasy and Team Sci Fi! Once again, you've made this one of the most fun and exciting events to visit the KuroFai community, and I want you all to be proud of yourselves and what you have achieved.

Our scores are in, and as per precedence, they were very close indeed; the KuroFai Olympics is always a tight competition, regardless of theme, and this year was no exception- the difference in the final score came down to 0.9 points! Without further ado, the winning team of the 2015 KuroFai Olympics is...

( Drumroll please! )

I hope everyone has had a wonderful time with this year's Olympics, and I hope we can keep the event running in 2016. Thank you all so, so much for participating and making it a fantastic event for KuroFai fans across the fandom!

Hello CLAMPers! Welcome to the 2015 KuroFai Olympics, we're so excited to have you here!

Now, if you've never participated in or heard about the Olympics before, this is what they are: a fan-run event where two themed teams compete in a friendly competition to post up fic for a series of prompts, and our readers vote and score their favourites! This year we have Team Fantasy v.s. Team Sci Fi, and a list of eight prompts- That's sixteen brand new fics all up!

If you're a first time reader-voter, or even a veteran who'd like a refresher on how to vote and help your favourite fic do well, this short guide is for you. Please read through it carefully, and if you have any questions, post them in a comment down below- I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

( How to Vote & Voting Etiquette Guide )

Thanks for reading, and happy voting!

Hey there, Team Sci Fi. I'm calling this team meeting as, due to unforeseen circumstance, aithilin has had to drop out of the contest, which leaves us with a gap in the posting schedule. As per the rules of the contest, if no one posts on an allocated day, the score for that day is zero.

( I'm hoping we can come up with a solution. )

It all comes down to this, dear Olympians: the final revision of the posting schedule. Please consult the chart below carefully and memorise your posting date, as a week's extension has been given due to extenuating circumstances and popular requests, and the dates have shifted accordingly.



This is the last extension that will be given; there will be no others, and these dates are fixed as of today. You must post your fic on your assigned date, finished or not, or you will get a score of zero for your team. Remember, even if you're not quite done, it's better to post what you have and take a small penalty, than lose it all!

As always, I'm volunteering my help for anyone that needs it; please get in touch with me if you're having trouble, or would like someone to beta for you, as I'm here to help as your friendly mod! And participants whose fics have been completed early are encouraged to cheer on and help out their team mates, so please look out for your fellow Sci Fi / Fantasy members and give them a helping hand. Together your teams stand united! Please check in below so I know you're aware of your new posting date, and let me know if you have any questions.

Best of luck, everyone, and keep at it- do your best and don't give up!

Hello Olympians! The finish line is well and truly in sight now- and at this late date, I'm hoping that this is the last schedule adjustment we'll need to have.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, odditea has unfortunately had to drop out from Team Sci Fi; luckily, we have farenmaddox , a veteran from previous Olympics, stepping in for the prompt 'Daddy Daycare'. As such, I've shuffled the schedule a little to reflect this. For most of you, your posting date is unchanged, but please have a look all the same; now's your last chance to let me know of any schedule conflicts.



We're also running a bit thin on the ground when it comes to pinch-hitters, and because the time is really getting tight, it's not going to be easy to find one if you need to drop out. As such, I've made the executive decision that, if you cannot finish your fic by your posting date, you will need to post it up unfinished and accept the penalty accordingly. It's not the end of the world if you can't finish your fic, I promise you, but I hope that everyone here can finish on time. Remember, if you need help, please don't hesitate to ask me. I am more than happy to provide my services as beta for those who need it.

Finally, I'd like it if everyone could please check-in and let me know how you are going; even just a quick sentence to let us know you're still battling on. We're pushing on towards the finish line now, with the last few days of writing ticking over: let's keep it up and strive for victory!

p.s. if you haven't checked out KuroFai from Last Night, you're really missing out!

Hello CLAMPers! I hope we're all going well and the writing is cracking along. It's just about two weeks until the posting starts, so it's time to be alert but not alarmed!

I mentioned previously that I would provide a revised posting schedule if any changes happened, so please find below the even more colourful revision to the posting period, as laid out as prettily as I could in excel:




cloverflynn has unfortunately had to drop out due to the biggest timesuck of them all, a.k.a. Real Life, but happily our first pinch-hitter for Team Fantasy, mikkeneko , has stepped in for the prompt 'Cafe'. mikkeneko will be posting on the 9th, however aithilin for Team Sci Fi will still be posting on the 2nd, as previously scheduled.

Any questions, please ask 'em below, or drop me a message either here or tumblr- I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Happy writing!

Hello CLAMPers! As of today, the writing period for the 2015 KuroFai Olympics is officially open! Below you'll find the very colourful posting schedule, which I've arranged as best I can to fit everyone's availabilities. If the posting schedule does not suit you, we need to shuffle posting dates, or if an extension is needed, I will be sure to post an updated schedule as soon as possible; but for now, posting dates are as follows:



We also have some posting guidance, with the banner coding and the format all competitors must include with all entries.

As previously mentioned, you may post your entry wherever you are comfortable doing so, such as tumblr, AO3, fanfiction.net, to your dreamwidth journal or even the KuroFai community itself; however, wherever you post your fic, you must create a post in the community following the format below. This will make it easier for your readers to vote for your fic, and for yours truly to collate all the scores.

For all participants, please title your entry post like so in the subject line of your post: (Team Fantasy/Sci Fi) [Prompt] Title of Fic

For Team Fantasy, please use the following code to format your post:

<center><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qSsZg7WCqkQ/VUTODYL7FYI/AAAAAAAAABg/MvyTkC31FPw/s830/OlympicsBannerTeamFantasy.png" alt="Team Fantasy banner"/></center> <b>Title:</b> <b>Prompt:</b> (You only need to include the segment of your prompt in [square brackets] here.) <b>Rating:</b>(Please use the following rating system: G for all ages; T for content suitable for a teenage audience; M for content suitable to an adult audience; R for content containing explicit sexual or violent themes. If you are unsure of how to rate your fic, please ask a teammate or myself what they would rate it based on its content.) <b>Warnings:</b> (In this section, please warn for any potentially triggering content such as: extreme violence; gore; sexual content; drug or alcohol use; etc. If you are unsure whether something needs to be warned for, it is best to err on the side of caution and include it anyway.) <b>Notes:</b> (In this section, include any author's notes you feel necessary.) (Provide a link to your fic here, or a read more cut with your fic beneath if you post it directly to the community. Don't forget to encourage your readers to vote for you on your official dreamwidth post!) <b>Thank you for reading! How did I do? Please score my fic according to these guidelines:</b> <i>1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? (1-10) 2. How well written was the fic? (1-10) 3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (1-10) </i> Please remember that you must provide some form of identification, either by logging into dreamwidth, or by providing a link to a blog or profile on another site, for your vote to be counted!


For Team Sci Fi, please use the following code to format your post:

<center><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7lBLEpFYtk4/VUTODbC2YJI/AAAAAAAAABc/p1JOkUlFjng/s830/OlympicsBannerTeamSciFi.png " alt="Team Sci Fi banner"/></center> <b>Title:</b> <b>Prompt:</b> (You only need to include the segment of your prompt in [square brackets] here.) <b>Rating:</b>(Please use the following rating system: G for all ages; T for content suitable for a teenage audience; M for content suitable to an adult audience; R for content containing explicit sexual or violent themes. If you are unsure of how to rate your fic, please ask a teammate or myself what they would rate it based on its content.) <b>Warnings:</b> (In this section, please warn for any potentially triggering content such as: extreme violence; gore; sexual content; drug or alcohol use; etc. If you are unsure whether something needs to be warned for, it is best to err on the side of caution and include it anyway.) <b>Notes:</b> (In this section, include any author's notes you feel necessary.) (Provide a link to your fic here, or a read more cut with your fic beneath if you post it directly to the community. Don't forget to encourage your readers to vote for you on your official dreamwidth post!) <b>Thank you for reading! How did I do? Please score my fic according to these guidelines:</b> <i>1. How well did this fic fit the prompt? (1-10) 2. How well written was the fic? (1-10) 3. How much did I enjoy this fic overall? (1-10) </i> Please remember that you must provide some form of identification, either by logging into dreamwidth, or by providing a link to a blog or profile on another site, for your vote to be counted!


Please make sure you use the correct team formatting for your entry- if you don't, you'll need to repost it!

And last but not least, just a few reminders:

• The posting schedule is subject to change if anyone withdraws from the competition, or if it is decided that an extension is needed. If this happens, I will create a new post with the new posting schedule and post it up here in the KuroFai community, and alert you all through tumblr. As such, please make sure you check the community and the "2015 KuroFai Olympics" tag on tumblr regularly for any news regarding the event.
• If you are a writer for either team, you may not vote. However, you can still cheer on your teammates and rivals, and we encourage you to both read their fic and comment on it. Give your fellow participants some love- they worked just as hard as you did!
• Please remember to follow all the rules as listed in the community guidelines, and follow the formatting provided above for posting your entries. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me- I'm not scary at all, and I'll do my best to help you out.
• If you need to call in a pinch-hitter, please let me know as soon as possible. I really can't stress this enough.

Thank you everyone, and good luck and god speed!

Hellooooo CLAMPers, and welcome to the Prompt Claim Post for the 2015 KuroFai Olympics! I don't need to remind you that our theme this year is Fantasy v.s. Sci Fi, as you can see from the gorgeous banner above (which you'd best believe I will be using at every possible opportunity), and working within that theme, it's time to have a look at this year's prompts!

Please read the following carefully before you claim your prompt. This year's prompts were randomly chosen from the top ten selected from a list of twenty-one thought up by yours truly; they vary in complexity, but all are possible within a fantasy or sci fi theme. Below the cut you will find eight words and phrases, in [square brackets], each accompanied by a little flavour text to get your creative juices flowing; please consider the word or phrase in the square brackets to be the non-negotiable part of your prompt, with the additional flavour text there to give you a little extra inspiration, which you may or may not use as best pleases you.



As always, it is first come, first served when it comes to claiming prompts; however, you are welcome to trade amongst your team to find an agreeable swap with a fellow teammate if one can be had. You have four days to claim and barter for prompts within your teams; on Friday the 8th of May, I will post up the final allocation of prompts, with further information in regards to the writing period and posting order to be provided then also. If by the 8th you have not claimed a prompt, one will be assigned to you at random, so make sure you claim one before then!

To claim a prompt, you need to reply to your team thread in the comments below, not directly to this post; if you do so, your comment will be deleted and your claim counted as invalid. I will create two threads, each with the appropriate team banner, for this purpose; please make sure you reply to the right one!

I will also create a third thread for any questions or clarifications needed about the prompts provided; please ask me anything you wish to know about any of the prompts there. Please also keep in mind the following when choosing your prompt:

• all entries for the Olympics must abide by the rules of the community, which can be found on the profile; in summary, the pairing of Kurogane and Fai must be the main focal point of your entry, though side-pairings and threesomes/moresomes are welcome, as long as they abide by the above rule.
• all entries must also be rated and contain trigger warnings appropriate to their content; more details will be given of this upon the closing of the prompt claiming period, but competitors are encouraged to avoid tropes and themes of sexual violence within their works, and to keep in mind the fair warning needs of their reading audience.
• your prompt and its flavour text is a guideline, and while an element of the square-bracketed prompt must be included in your entry, it is up to you to interpret your prompt and its meaning how you wish. It's your story; write it the way you like! If you do have any questions regarding the meaning or minutiae of a prompt, please ask in the questions thread.

Writing officially starts on the 11th of May (though if you are organised you can start on the 8th, if you like) and the current, tentative posting dates are between the 1st and 8th of June; if there are any schedule changes, you will all be informed through a post on the community, so please keep watching for updates.

Last but not least, have fun! I hope you all find a prompt you enjoy, and I am so excited to see what wonderful fics your teams write!

Hello CLAMPers! Seeing as the sign ups are going well, I'm going to put up a rolling coverage of who is on what time, subject to change at the drop of a magical and/or futuristic hat as the sign up period goes on. These are not the final team allocations; this is just to help me (and you) keep track of who is going where so far. I'll put up the ultimate allocations when I open up the prompts for claiming.

Team Fantasy:

caffeine_buzz 
pokechan 
notpotable 
thecicada 
zelinxia 
little_echo 
cloverflynn 
tsubasafan 

Team Sci Fi:

aithilin 
floweranza 
badluck_koi 
superyuui 
youandyourlilies 
aythli 
arisprite 
odditea 

Team Pinch-hitter:

mikkeneko  (with a preference for Team Fantasy)
ereshkigali  (with a preference for Team Sci Fi)
animangod  (with a preference for Team Fantasy)
triumphforks  (with a preference for Team Sci Fi)
not_my_century (reserve for both)
mindlessadri  (reserve for both)
farenmaddox  (reserve for both)
cloverfield  (emergency reserve)


Now, so far it looks like we've got fifteen writers. Considering we've a generous amount of pinch-hitters, I may call one up to act as another participant before the end of sign ups. For now, this is our very tentative team listing! Questions or comments, please leave 'em below!

Edit: Looks like we've got eight people per team and six (plus one emergency reserve) pinch-hitters! I'd say the sign-ups are well and truly closed, wouldn't you?

That said, if anyone would like to swap teams or drop out, now is the time; I'll post up the unchangeable and official teams tomorrow, before the prompt claiming on the 4th. Good luck everyone!

p.s. if you're a participant, and you haven't read the rules yet, now might be a good time to do so! I want everyone to understand the procedure of the contest!