Re: OT: Possible change to Spoiler rules?

["kimbertvs" <kacoe@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

First, Dan, I didn't get your reply off list - sorry, my mail has 
been all wonky lately and is looking for a good staking :)

Second, it seems that there's a call to arms about list rules and 
such. Being that some people want things changed, and some don't, 
you should all be well armed. Here are the official list rules. I 
wrote them, Rod OK'd them and they go out to every new member. As 
they are changed, they're resent to the list, and every few months or 
so I send them AGAIN just for a reminder. While I readily admit I've 
been a lax listmum, I am still the listmum :) Anyways, here are the 
rules, and I'll try to keep up with the discussion as much as I can. 
If you want me, my email addy is (kacoe@xxxxxxxxxxx) yes, it changed 
AGAIN. ::sigh::
PS
I got kidnapped by real life, if you want to know more I'll send you 
the link to my online diary, it's entirely too much to put here 
onlist so you all can call off the koala and the hover tank doing 
daily sweeps of the Woods Outback to find me :)

--------------------------------------

Greetings,
your friendly neighborhood listmom here. Just thought I'd send you 
all the rules before you started discussing changing them or adding 
to them. I'm all for change, but it has to be majority rules, calm 
and adult discussion and solved within a fairly decent amount of 
time - I'm pretty sure the listdad Rod would agree with me on that. 
So without further adeu:

It seems we've attracted a new member. Well, in that case....

Hello and welcome to the list!!! Please take a moment to review this 
message.

I'm the Buffybot...
Not buying it, huh?
ahh well, I was just kidding anyway.

Ok, first things first, and since this question is the most asked 
one, we'll give you the answer right away:

How do I unsubscribe?

To unsubscribe from this list, go to the Yahoogroups website, at 
http://groups.yahoo.com or http://www.yahoogroups.com, and select 
the 'My Groups' link from the menu bar on the left. This menu will 
also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode, 
and allow you to change your settings to recieve no mail at all, if 
you prefer that. You can also unsubscribe by using the email address 
located at the bottom of any message you receive from the list, and 
here:
buffywantswillow-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Next one. What if I found this really cool picture, or have written 
my own fic, and want to share it with everyone?

Well, there is a FILE link on the main page. This can be used to 
house your own personal fic. Just make a folder for yourself and 
upload to your heart's content. You can also share Buffy/Willow 
related items such as sounds and pictures.

Feel free to add any relevant links to the LINKS section. Just make 
sure that you're not repeating what someone else already put there.


Okay, now on to the list itself. This list is dedicated to the most 
perfect couple to ever appear on a tv show, Willow and Buffy (hey, we 
can dream).

This place was created in hopes that there would be like minded 
people out there rooting for this couple. So, this is a place where 
we'll all be able to exchange ideas, post fics, talk about those cute 
moments that are shown in the episodes, tell others why you think 
they would be good together and things like that.


It's kind of a hang out place for Buffy and Willow fans.

Well, now with all that stuff outa the way, on to the Rules:

Rules, rules, rules. Who needs stinkin' rules anyway?? Well, every 
good mailing list does. Here are just a few pointers to get you 
going. Ahem, okay, with out further adieu.....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

1: Flaming.
"NO. Just say no to flaming."

Constructive criticism is encouraged and welcomed without a doubt, 
but if you are going to point out a flaw in the story or something 
that didn't make sense, do it off list and in a nice constructive 
way. Don't be mean, some authors (like me) aren't very thick skinned 
and believe it or not, your opinion is very important to us.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

2: Feedback
"Aww, look at the poor bards in the cage. They must be starving!"

Our lists have been in existence since December 1999. There are 
three reasons for that: feedback, feedback, and feedback. The more 
you say you like a story, the more an author will write. Feedback 
can be posted to the list and you are encouraged to do so. If 
the 'lurkers' see that a story they liked was responded to, then they 
will be encouraged to encourage the author. Get it? On the other 
hand, if you read a story, don't feedback with 'I like it, want 
more!' if you have the feeling it wasn't good. Tell the author what 
you didn't like, point out flaws you think are there, but do such in 
a constructive way, and don't beat down on his fic. After all, he's 
the one who shares with you, not the opposite. And if you write 
yourself, you will know best what I mean.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

3: Story lines
"A Slayer, a Hacker, a demon - oh my!"

The names of the lists are BuffyWantsWillow and BuffyLovesWillow. 
heh. Do the math. Rod rules supreme and I'm just his lil woman over 
here - he has encouraged authors if they wish to post their other fic 
here they may do so. It's never been a problem before and I don't see 
why it should change. Just as long as it's Buffy The Vampire Slayer 
orientated - have a ball!

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4: Disclaimers
"Joss rules, I suck. He owns 'em, I wish I did."

Even though we know you don't own the characters or their likenesses, 
you need to put a disclaimer in your intro. This is to ensure your 
safety if anyone affiliated with BtVS came across it. You could get 
in deep stuff I've seen it happen. For an example, see rule number 
7.

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5: Distribution
"The usual suspects, all others ask first."

Also in your header, include anyone's name that is archiving your 
fic. Us weary archivists don't always have time to read your lovely 
story the minute it's posted, so we just scan the headers to see if 
it's one that we've been given permission to archive. As websites 
go, they're a bear to keep up with and personally, as much as I love 
every author's work that I archive, I can't remember all dozens of 
names off the top of my head.

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6: Off-Topic Posts
"OT: I whittled my own stake today and named it Mrs. Pointy!"

Off-topic posts are fine as long as they are labeled as such. Also, 
keep in mind that collectively, both lists, we are over 800 strong, 
so you may want to wait in responding to an off topic post until some 
other people have replied. That way you can respond to the poster 
and the others also.

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Now, important for the Authors, or upcoming authors:

7: Headers
"Name, rank and serial number please."

All fics need a header. It's a simple little blurb but conveys all 
the important pesky details. Authors Notes is optional. Some people 
us it to dedicate the fic to someone or just make a random comment 
about the fic.
Here is an example:

TITLE: At Loose Ends (1/1)
AUTHOR: Kimber (kacoe@xxxxxxxxxxx)
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. 
I don't own anything.
SUMMARY: Response to Rod's weekly challenge. . but with a twist. 
Write a story about coming back to or for someone.
SPOILERS: Everything is fair game.
DISTRIBUTION: The usual suspects. Anyone else, e-mail me please. 
AUTHOR'S NOTES: A writers end product usually reflects how they feel 
when they write it. Angst abounds with my favorite couple. You've 
seen it before, you know what it means. Possible tear alert.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

8: Subject Line
"Hey can I post this here????"
Subject lines are the first thing we all look at, and in some cases, 
the only thing. So in order to sort out the fic from the discussion, 
you should try to label your e-mails accurately. For example:

OT: Where's Rod?
FIC: The Trials and Tribulations of a missing List-Dad (1/1)
FF: The True Adventure Of a Listmom in Search of the Missing Listdad 
(1/?)

OT means Off Topic. Yes, we are all aware that it could also mean On 
Topic, but due to the nature of On Topic, it's never used as such Fic 
and FF are used to describe FanFiction.
Also, keep in mind, that if you post something, be aware of spoilers, 
as seen below in rule #11

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9: Posting in parts
"Fic: Da Rulz and such (1/?)"
Parts are fine. Keeping our AOLers in mind, keep your parts below 
20K. If it's larger than that, AOL recognizes the message as an 
attachment and wackyness ensues. If you open the folder your fic is 
in and go to 'view' then 'details', you can figure out how large it 
is. If your story parts are posted more than 3 weeks apart, just 
give us a tiny synopsis of what happened in the previous chapter.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

10: Ratings
"This is rated NC-17 for acts of wild monkey love."
Let's break it down folks. BuffyLovesWillow is an all ages mailing 
list which means that nothing over PG can be posted. Meaning no 
explicit sex, drug use, violence, etc. We have 'kids' here, possibly 
around 14 or 15 and while they may know a heck of a lot more than we 
did when we were growing up, encouraging the deterioration of their 
young brains is an activity best left to the people they interact 
with in real life. BuffyWantsWillow, however is an anything goes 
list. It's only limited by your funky and down right disturbing 
imaginations.

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11: Spoiler Space
"Can you believe the Initiative caught Oz-wolf and SHAVED him!!!"
While we all live for gossip surrounding the show, many people are 
from many different time zones, countries, planets, etc. Please 
include spoiler space in the body of your e-mail so if someone 
doesn't want to read it, they can just skip it. Usually if the 
episode has happened within the past 2 weeks, then use spoiler 
space. Anything beyond that is fair game.
Also, don't ellude to the spoiler in the subject line. This is #1 
problem with spoilers, as it's easy to avoid the mail body, but very 
hard to avoid the subject line if you recieve other mail on the same 
account too.
Make it vague like:
OT: Possible spoilers for "Wild at Heart"
and do NOT post like this in the subject line.
My God! Willow slept with Xander!<<


Then, here's an example for the body text:

I read this over at the Buffy Cross & Stake:

1 ***Spoiler Space***
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

And start here with the spoilers.

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12: Respect
"Tell me what I mean to you, but in a good way."
Well, someone once said that opinions are like ***holes, everybody's 
got one. I think it's a good point. While we all hold our favorite 
Slayer and Wiccan in common, we hail from different parts of the 
country, as well as the world (and in some cases, different 
planets). We come from different families, backgrounds, upbringings 
and values. I may not agree with something you say, but I can say it 
in a non argumentative fashion. Translated: Respect how others feel 
and they will do the same. Agree that you disagree, make intelligent 
and valid points for your side of things and move on.

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Rules will be added on an as needed basis. Suggestions are welcome 
as always. Again, Welcome to the list!! Go have fun!!

You list Parents,
Rodrigo & Kimber

and the list mods,
Quindo Ma, ShadowLander & Dan