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rarecharacters2014-07-02 02:58 pm
neurotoxia) wrote in rarecharacters2014-07-02 02:58 pm
Entry tags:
Discussion Post
We'd like to put things up for discussion we received questions about in the last few days:
1) Do you consider the 250 fics rule (or 5% respectively) a fair way to judge character rarity? Should there be no rule at all and just leave it to the participants to nominate what they consider rare?
Our personal thoughts on this matter are that a set number gives especially us mods an objective way to gauge rarity in a multifandom exchange. People can still advocate for a character that has been rejected due to the numbers in a separate post. On the other hand, we know that the tags on AO3 don't indicate major and minor characters (yet), so the numbers for certain characters might be skewered. With no tangible rule at all however, "rare" becomes a rather subjective matter that could open a lot of dicussion and debate. We'd like to hear whether you think the rule is fair or if it should be abandoned (though we don't know yet if it would affect this round since nominations have already started)
2) Do you think we should accept fandoms that only have one nominated character at the end of the nomination period?
Last time, we deleted those fandoms and directed people to the prompt meme where we have no limits imposed on the numbers of characters, but we are willing to reconsider this practise if that's what you'd prefer.
3) How should we treat characters like 'XYZ's mother'? Should characters whose existence we can just conclude (like parents) be allowed? How should we treat quasi-OCs or 'fanon chracters'?
Naturally, if anyone's existence is confirmed by canon by appearing or otherwise described, they are eligible.
1) Do you consider the 250 fics rule (or 5% respectively) a fair way to judge character rarity? Should there be no rule at all and just leave it to the participants to nominate what they consider rare?
Our personal thoughts on this matter are that a set number gives especially us mods an objective way to gauge rarity in a multifandom exchange. People can still advocate for a character that has been rejected due to the numbers in a separate post. On the other hand, we know that the tags on AO3 don't indicate major and minor characters (yet), so the numbers for certain characters might be skewered. With no tangible rule at all however, "rare" becomes a rather subjective matter that could open a lot of dicussion and debate. We'd like to hear whether you think the rule is fair or if it should be abandoned (though we don't know yet if it would affect this round since nominations have already started)
2) Do you think we should accept fandoms that only have one nominated character at the end of the nomination period?
Last time, we deleted those fandoms and directed people to the prompt meme where we have no limits imposed on the numbers of characters, but we are willing to reconsider this practise if that's what you'd prefer.
3) How should we treat characters like 'XYZ's mother'? Should characters whose existence we can just conclude (like parents) be allowed? How should we treat quasi-OCs or 'fanon chracters'?
Naturally, if anyone's existence is confirmed by canon by appearing or otherwise described, they are eligible.
no subject
Well, I've already given my opinion but for reference sake for others, I'll repeat it briefly. Rare characters from my favourite fandoms don't qualify for these exchanges usually because of over-zealous tagging on the part of the fanfic writers. The numbers are ridiculously skewed. According to AO3 in May, one character was part of 834 fanworks. But after filtering (complete works in English and over 1000 words and removing the tag "background character/ship"), the real number turned out to be just 78 fanworks. This is what's really driving me nuts because as you can see these characters are rare.
#2- Fandoms with one character.
I have no idea so I'll defer to majority on this.
#3- Rare characters (like parents) who are not part of canon.
(If I'm understanding the question correctly, this is my opinion.)
I think they should be allowed. These characters exist in the canon 'verse, though they're just barely mentioned. But because of that they also tend to be very interesting for fic writers because of the unexplored backstory.
Here's my two-cents...
I honestly think this is fine. I have no trouble finding characters in my multitudes of fandoms that fit. If one of the characters I want appears to be iffy, I just choose a different one.
Rule 2:
This is probably a good idea to further diversify. Taking those fandoms down may cut more than a few people from signing-up.
Rule 3:
Unexplored ground to a writer is like mana from heaven. The ability to work with barely-fleshed characters is something that this exchange should embrace. All characters deserve to be expanded upon or explored.