rainbowlounge | RainbowFic Questions & Suggestions August 5th

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RainbowFic Questions & Suggestions August 5th - 13th

(dates are approximate)

This is the place for any questions or suggestions you have for

rainbowlounge . This includes 'how does this work?', 'does this supply or style count for this?' and 'what are the limits on this?'

There are a good amount of things that have fuzzy limits or definitions and that's okay. You're allowed to use your judgement of how to use a list, supply, style, etc. But I also want to acknowledge that not everyone is comfortable with ambiguity and that some people need more concrete answers. So this is where to get those (and then it'll be added to the appropriate page). But there are no tag/prompt/writing police here (I don't have energy for that shit)

Anyone can answer (please, if you've been here longer, jump in and help). Please take time to check what the different

rainbowlists pages say because they might have the answer, but don't be afraid to ask something that seems obvious: it may be that I need to clarify a description or q&a. Checking the tags on

rainbowfic to see how something has been used is also a good way to get answers, or at least precedent.

I'll check these posts at least once a week and I'll be using these as a resource to find things that need to be added or improved in the q&as.

Edit relevant to discussion at hand:

- Mosaic current definition: A piece that is a crossover between canons; you may write a crossover with a media source, but this may not be your canon - it must either be AU or a very minor aspect of the main canon, since we're not a fanfic comm

- Collage current definition: Borrow another person's canon; be sure to ask first!

Neither have any q&as or comments related to them that I'm finding. Somebody could go through the tags to see what people have done, but that'd be a serious time commitment

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I'd like to clarify the amount of fan material is okay for a crossover with some examples because 'AU or minor aspect of the main canon' is vague. So people who have been here a long time: what do you consider acceptable or unacceptable?

I would suggest that in this kind of post, where you are encouraging people to get to know how things happen around here, you might want to try to be aware of jargon-y things like using abbreviations & such, and put their meaning after their use in parentheses, or as a footnote, or something.

I'm pretty sure, after reflecting on it, that AU = Alternate Universe, because I think that makes more sense in this context than AU = the atomic symbol for gold. (And never mind that the atomic symbol still comes faster to the tip of my mind than other things AU could be short for.)

That's a good point and yes, au = alternate universe

The impression I got was always that the characters should be yours but the setting could be borrowed, though I may not have understood correctly either. At one point I wrote an AU where the setting was heavily influenced by Pacific Rim and Evangelion but the characters and the specific giant fighting robot details were all me.

I have been pondering this as well because I have been writing in a TTRPG setting and I am pretty sure that if I use my original characters, that would be fine for mosaic. It gets fuzzy if I want to use non-player characters provided by the rulebook to interact with my characters. I still think that is probably fine? My character is a member of the Illustrious Qilin Villa sect (provided by the game), why couldn't he interact with the sect's masters (NPCs from the book)? For my conscience, I would probably try to keep the focus on my OC though.

It does create a situation where I can technically call it fanfic, and have my cake and eat it too. I have already been posting fiction like this on AO3 as fanfic for the game.

It does create a situation where I can technically call it fanfic, and have my cake and eat it too. I have already been posting fiction like this on AO3 as fanfic for the game.

sweats nervously lol.

(speaking of ttrpg mosaics n stuff, I do have a 'verse inspired by/set in the world of Princess: The Hopeful, but I haven't wrote anything for it here (yet). I don't even play ttrpgs!)

I've seen older mosaics with fandom characters in an original setting, interacting with original characters.

I know which ones you're talking about and they were for a specific challenge. Generally speaking we set the comm up to support only original characters and as much original worldbuilding as possible, unless, of course, for a specific challenge. I personally would prefer to keep this a comm for original works only.

Agreed! It's hard enough to find communities that have real support for original works (I am admittedly biased since that's pretty much the only thing I write)

I'm writing up some examples of possibilities, which is a bit challenging as I'm notoriously out to date about current fandoms

Okay, these are all things I'd consider acceptable for mosaic. Opinions? Other examples that you'd like opinions on?

1. Your characters in the main part of the setting of a media property (Bob and Alice in the Star Wars universe)
- A. Bob is a Jedi and argues with the known characters on the Jedi Council (AU only)
- B. Bob is a Jedi (AU only) but none of the story involves characters we know
- C. Bob is a Jedi and Alice is a Sith (AU only) but none of the story involves characters we know
- D. Bob and Alice are random characters in the background of Coruscant with their own story going on. Jedi and Sith never come up or are only slightly mentioned. (borderline on required to be an AU)

2. Alt Universe story only - Your characters acting out the plot of a media property (Bob replaces Crowley and Alex replaces Aziraphale in the Good Omens story) (borderline if allowed at all)

3. Alt Universe story only - Your characters interacting with the plot of a media property (Bob in London while the plot of Good Omens is happening in the background)

4. Your characters are doing their thing in a corner of a media property (Bob and Alice live on Tattooine)
- A. Bob and Alice live on Tattooine decades before anything we know about
- B. Bob and Alice live on Tattooine during events depicted but far away from Mos Eisly, Jabba, or anything else we know about. Jawas and Tuskens might be mentioned or show up briefly.
- C. Your story is mythology from a desert planet. Jedi, the Sarlaac pit, Tusken warriors, Jawas, and other Star Wars concepts aren't mentioned. Other creatures, like the giant riding lizards, might show up. (borderline whether needs to be marked as mosaic at all, depending on how many Star Wars specific details show up)

5. Your characters go on Jeopardy or Antiques Roadshow. (could be AU or in the main canon, depending on how long it lasts and how much influence it has on the story)

6. A minor character from a media property is dropped into your story (Christine Chapel from Star Trek the Original Series is Bob's doctor)
- A. Bob sees her every chapter but she doesn't influence the plot
- B. Bob and Christine get romantically involved
- C. Bob sees her once and it sets off a major event. She otherwise doesn't show up

These last ones, in my opinion, could be marked as mosaic or not commented on at all (...if not acceptable then everything I posted has to count as mosaic), as most of them happen in properties often with no issues:

7. A major character from a media property is used as inspiration for characters, but the story is completely different. (Luke in New York is based on Luke Skywalker. He grew up on a farm in Arizona with his aunt and uncle. He works in a coffee shop and solves mysteries)

8. Characters are obviously inspired by a media property character, but their name, life, etc are substantially different. (What TVtropes calls either an Expy or Captain Ersatz) (Superman -> Captain Marvel/Shazam and, uh, dozens others - Samaritan, Statesman, Plutonian, Hyperion, Supreme, Sentry...)

9. Main or minor character is a media property species but has nothing to do with the media story or any of its characters and are called something else (Bob is an Andorian- Star Trek species with blue skin and antenna- in a modern New York filled with non-Star Trek non-humans and humans, but is called a Rodna)

10. Minor character is obviously a media property character or named after a media property character. (In a short scene, Bob buys a book from Mr. Fell, aka Aziraphale from Good Omens, but nothing Good Omens related happens)

would the stuff ive posted be acceptable under this?

I haven't read all your stuff (I'm a bad mod...). Does it look like it does?

well, uh, my stuff is like. my ocs/focused on them, but set in a canon world, but I do have my worldbuilding n stuff there lol
(ngl I'm mostly just scared about not being able to post here anymore for whatever reason)

Sounds like #4 up there, so imo you should be fine.

ballin

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RainbowFic Questions & Suggestions August 5th - 13th

Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: AU

Re: AU

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)

Re: Fan content for Crossovers (Mosaic)