SHQ Spy Division Guidelines

List Guidelines and Rules

Tolerance applies foremost and supreme. Yaoi and other sexual relationships will be the focus of some stories, as will graphic violence given the subject matter. Intolerance of different points of view or likes and dislikes are not appropriate to a creative community. If you don’t like a story or are uncomfortable with some aspect of it, don’t read it --- that’s why the header is necessary. There are limits, however, and if a story troubles enough people, it will be considered by the moderators for possible withdrawal with no prejudice against the author.
Because of the adult nature of some material, you are on your honor to be of age to read adult material. Underage members who get caught lurking around will be gently assisted off the premises by Okita.
No flaming for ANY reason. Flamers will find their names on Saitou’s execution list for immediate extermination… in other words, you will be removed from the group. So will spammers.
Posts that do not have anything to do with the Shinsengumi in any way whatsoever will be deleted. All stories and artwork must be related to the Shinsengumi.
Be kind and encouraging to the authors and artists who feed our hunger. Often it is enough for some just to know their story or artwork has been seen, but if you can give some feedback (including positive criticism when possible), most will love you all the more. If you’re uncomfortable posting feedback to the entire list, e-mail the author privately. Just hit that reply button and let them know they have an audience! Sometimes it’s the difference between another story being written or picture being drawn and the author/artist never trying again. By the same token, authors and artists should accept positive criticism in the spirit intended. If you feel a review is unjustified or unwarranted, discuss it peaceably or ignore it at your discretion.
Don’t hesitate to ask the list if anyone is interested in being a beta-reader for a story. In the interest of a good read, most will be happy to help you.
Check the files sections of the list site occasionally for writing tips, help with Japanese terms or concepts, writing challenges or contests, inspiration. Join SHQ (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SHQ/ ) --- you won’t regret it.
Please feel free to upload information and links to the Web Features sections --- just keep information oriented towards the fictional aspects of the Shinsengumi. Fact related information (outside of challenges & contests) should be sent to SHQ. I will likely be organizing categories (e.g. writing tips, challenges/contests) rather than letting them scatter so they don’t get lost in the muddle. If you uploaded something and it isn’t where you thought you put it, I’ve probably just moved it into another folder. It’ll just be a matter of moving them, not deleting them. Only things unrelated to the Shinsengumi or writing, or not in keeping of the spirit of the list, would ever be deleted. (“But what if it’s a Shinsengumi dating service?”)

Submitting Fiction

Stories and poetry can be posted to the list or uploaded into the Fiction folder under Files, or both. When you post to the list, formatting will usually be lost. Saving your story or poem as an html document enables you to format a story the way you want and have it be seen that way. Just keep readability in mind when you get enthusiastic with color and fonts. J (In MSWord, to save a document in html format, you can either choose the “Save as” feature under File and choose “web page” in the drop down menu OR again under File, click on “Save as web document.” Those of us accustomed to uploading stories on ff.net should be aware that uploading to the yahoo list site keeps formatting exactly as you save it, unlike ff.net which puts lines in after returns. It’s been ages since I’ve worked with WordPerfect, so I don’t know how it works, but I imagine it’s similar. Send a query to the list for help if you need to.)

If the story or poem is being posted to the list, in the subject line, please provide the following FIC: <title>, <source material>, <character or pairing>, <rating>

As an example, using one of my Rurouni Kenshin stories: FIC: Kitaku, RK, SaitouxSano, R

You can use semi-colons to separate the information or put non-title information within parentheses, etc., but include the information so others can see at a glance if it is something they’re interested in. With so much potential diversity of characters, situations, and source materials, it’s only common courtesy.

Please include the following header when posting a story to the list or uploading it to the File folder. I know it’s a pain, but it allows readers the choice of what they want to read and what they want to avoid, as well as quick access to author information, permission to archive on the website, and a disclaimer to protect yourself. Stories that are posted without the header will be deleted. Forgetfulness happens --- don’t take it personally. Just repost it with the header. (Or just send a message that, ACK! you forgot the header and correct it on the upload in Files.) If the story contains multiple parts or chapters, you can either repost the header each time or at the very least repost the disclaimer. If information should change (such as the story has suddenly jumped from PG to R), please repost a new header when you realize information in the original header has changed. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, spiritus_saitou@yahoo.com .

Title:

Author:

E-mail:

Source: (original, RK, PMK, Mibugishiden, etc.)

Main character(s): (Shinsengumi, Okita, SaitouxTokio, Kondou & Hijikata, just give us an idea of who we’re going to read about)

Archived on the website: (Is it okay to archive it on the SHQ website, yes or no)

General Rating: (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17… I know it’s hard to estimate, but a general idea helps)

Warning: (M/M, F/M, F/F sexual situations, graphic violence, strong language, rape… anything you think might be disturbing)

Disclaimer: (If you are using characterizations drawn from a copyrighted source (such as anime, manga, film, books), you must acknowledge you do not hold the copyright. If your story is based on an original idea with original characters, give yourself at least a little protection from potential plagiarism by stating you own the rights to your original ideas and characters.)

Archiving

Stories and poems are archived as html documents in the Fiction folder in Files. If you have the availability of saving a document to html (web page) format, please upload your piece into the list site archive. Besides being able to control the way your story looks, it aids in the transfer to the main website archive. Give the name of your file the title of the story – Yahoo does use the file name for identification of text files (unlike images). In the description give at least information on the source universe, the main characters (Shinsengumi characters if it’s an original story) and the rating. It identifies who did the upload, so you can use that as identifying you as the author, or see if you can put your name in the description. It will also be available to readers in the header you provide within the document.

If you can’t get your file to save as an html document, contact me or others who may be willing to do it for you (like other moderators or friends). It’ll get put up for you and you identified as the author in the description.

We would also like to archive your story on the SHQ website. If you’ve replied yes to archiving in the header, it will find it’s way to the main archive. If you’ve replied no, it will only be archived on the Yahoo list site. Also, if you’re not already posting stories to ff.net, consider “publishing” your story there, too. It’s simple to sign up. The address is http://www.fanfiction.net/ . There are other ff.net authors on the list who would be willing to help if you have any problems or questions.

Submitting Art

Art should be uploaded into the Photos section of the Web Features. You may have to click the button to send a notification to the group (it seems to do it automatically for text files, but I’m not sure about images) or post a message to the list telling us it’s there. Art includes:

single drawings/paintings/computer-generated images created by members that are meant to stand alone and aren’t part of a manga or doujinshi or text story.
original manga created by members.
original doujinshi created by members.
original illustrations created by members for stories written by them or others.
all of the above except that they weren’t created by the member, which has a few rules of its own below.
screen captures from anime, films, and other moving picture formats.
actual photographs
scans of illustrations (art as opposed to photographs) from books

In general, we’re looking to collect original work… a place for the visual artists to participate, too. Images from other published manga and doujinshi, screencaps, scans of illustrations, and photographs should be kept to minimum… mostly to be used for inspiration. If you run into a great site to access images like this, let us all know by posting a link in the Links section.

VERY IMPORTANT: If YOU did not create the image or images, please be aware that people can be very sensitive about where their work ends up. Do not upload entire manga or doujinshi that is not your own. A few images is one thing, but not the entire thing --- that infringes on copyrights and who knows what else. If it’s a stand-alone piece of fan art produced by someone else, please seek permission from the artist to share it with us. We all want to see it, but only if the creator wants to share it. Protect yourself and the group by uploading responsibly.

Artists are just going to have to fend for themselves about how to identify their work in the limited space available. If you can include the source universe somewhere in the description, that would be nice. If anyone has any formula to help identify pieces and give artists credit, let me know so we can include it here. At this point, I don’t know how it will be handled on the website.

Other artistic formats

Other computer-supported formats, such as musicvids and moving images can probably be uploaded into the Web Features, but you may want to simply post a link where members can view it. Be sure to let us know about it!

Some General Information

I would strongly and gleefully encourage members on this list to also join our sister list, SHQ. It’s a discussion list where lots of history is made available (including translations and images from Japanese sites) and stored in the Photos and Files sections. It makes for a handy reference when you’re writing about the Shinsengumi as well as just being plain fascinating. Anything relating to the Shinsengumi is open for discussion, including manga and anime, films, tv series, products available from e-bay and Japan, books, cosplay, and the history and culture of the times. Come over and play at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shq/ .

A website is currently under heavy construction (thanks to Barb Sheridan), but available for viewing that will incorporate information, historic images, links, and other resources and fun, as well as the fiction and art archives. Visit from time to time as it grows. http://www.shinsengumihq.com/ .

And finally, a LiveJournal is available, SHQ Spy Office, to bring in even more miburo fans and offer another forum for discussion and fiction. You may have to be registered with LiveJournal in order to join (http://www.livejournal.com/create.bml), but reading and commenting to entries is available to anyone. Check out the LJ at http://www.livejournal.com/~shq_spy_office .

You guys are the blood and glory of this group. It’s up to you to write the stories begging to be told, the reviews and comments to lavish, the resources to be tapped into. I’m just here to make sure it has some organization and feels like a safe haven for lots of different people with a single interest. Any questions, comments, suggestion, complaints --- please feel free to contact me, spiritus_saitou@yahoo.com . (Honestly, I really do not bite!)