NOTE: Het vs. Slash, Angst Vs. Romance, Canon Vs. AU
The point of this contest was to bring together all genres of the fandom for a contest that had all ratings and is based on anonymous entries. The contest was inspired by Teitho from the Aragorn Angst group. However they have limitations as to character, rating, and genre. Thanks to Michele from Teitho, I was able to remodel that contest and ta-da - we have a new one!
One big thing that needs to be consistent in this group is no drama. The best way we can keep the drama out of it is to remember that some writing that you might find squicky might be something someone out there writes. We're not asking you to read it or judge it. We're asking you to basically ignore it. If the warnings and pairings are clearly something you would be offended by - do not read it. And if you do, don't flame it or make negative comments about it. We each have our own thoughts about how we feel about smut, slash, femslash, angst, au, romance, canon, etc etc etc etc. Some of us hate Hobbit fics as much as the next person hates MPRGs. Part of being in this 'community' is respecting the rights of everyone else to write what *they* are inspired by.
Also, canon is always a big deal for some people. There are canon-Nazis and canon-breakers. There are those who claim to be a canon-Nazi and break canon out of ignorance. Some write in book verse and others in movie verse. If someone has broken canon so much so that it offends you, stop reading that entry. If anything bothers you, it’s better left unread. If you see it posted after the contest and want to talk to the author about it, please do so nicely and constructively so that person will not feel like being part of this contest opened them up to be flamed.
We have a strict no flame policy. People will not write better if you tell them their writing sucks. It’s not constructive and it will not be tolerated.
No one will ever be asked to write or read something that they find offensive. If you don't read slash, don't read and don't vote for it. That is totally fine. If you don't like smut at all, stick to the general category. If you like a little slash with your het but still like some warm fuzzies thrown in - read and vote for all three. I know there will be some writers who only vote and write in one or two category and that is completely fine. Voting is anonymous so there isn't a concern that people will be upset that you didn't vote in a category.
Hopefully everyone can get along and meet new people from the other genres of this fandom. We all have two things in common no matter what we write - we love to write and we love Tolkien's world. This sandbox is big enough for everyone as long as no one throws any sand.
Aeärwen
Owner, ALEC