Rainbow Lounge

(I keep forgetting to do these, so feel free to poke me via DM or on the discord. You can also keep posting to the most recent one.

This is the place for any questions or suggestions you have for rainbowfic , rainbowlists , and 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

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 be using these as a resource to find things that need to be added or improved in the q&as on Rainbowlist

Things of note:
- Proposal: Alternative lists for Emerald and Wizard? - I'm still working on these!
- Prompt list suggestion: Offspring lyrics - a proposed list that could use ideas for names

This is the place for any questions or suggestions you have for rainbowfic , rainbowlists , and 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

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 be using these as a resource to find things that need to be added or improved in the q&as on Rainbowlist

This is the place for any questions or suggestions you have for rainbowfic , rainbowlists , and 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

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 on Rainbowlist

This is the place for any questions or suggestions you have for rainbowfic , rainbowlists , and 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

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 on Rainbowlist

I apologize that I haven't been quite as available, but I'm doing my best. I really need to prep these ahead of time...

This is the place for any questions or suggestions you have for rainbowfic , rainbowlists , and 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

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 on Rainbowlist

We have a new sticky post for the collaborative supplies

I'm trying to write a clearer description of Mosaic that doesn't exclude things that were previously included and doesn't make it overlap overly much with Collage or Interactive Fiction.

I'd really appreciate input from people who've been here longer than me on how it's worked before.

Previous Mosaic 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

My latest update: A crossover. This can be a crossover between your different canons, between your canon and a media source, or between your canon and a friend's canon. See the Q&A below. (the q&a is a wip)

And for reference:
Interactive art: Create a piece with another person
Collage: Borrow another person's canon; be sure to ask first! This is meant for interaction between RainbowFic members, but you can collaborate with any writers you know. (It'd be nice if they popped in to say hi)

So Interactive Art is collaborations / co-writing, etc. Collage is writing in another canon and consensus was it was designed with RainbowFic members in mind. To me, that seems like Collage would include settings from media sources like tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) and series and using original characters designed for that setting, but I'm not sure that's been included before.

Mosaic is meant for crossovers, which implies original characters created for something else interacting with characters or settings from another canon* and from everything I've seen is supposed to be the only way of using a media source in a piece. But there are some scenerios that I'm not sure fit the definition of crossover and I don't know if we want to jam them into Mosaic or allow them under Collage.

* some crossover types: fusion crossover (characters replace the original characters), amalgam crossover (characters are merged into new characters), team-up

Examples of complicated scenerios (some of these are examples I came up with before, some of them are specific things that have come in regards to the discussion):

• Felino is a Thunderian (commoner of the same species as the Thundercats, who are nobles) running around in a setting that may or may not be in the same universe as Thundercats - nothing from the show is mentioned
• Sam was created for an original, non-published Dungeons and Dragons campaign and has connections to things from the sourcebooks in their background (novelizations of one's original campaigns goes back to the beginning of TTRPGs - the earliest one I can think of is Record of Lodoss War - and are not generally considered fanfic)
• Sam was created for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign and is running around a fantasy world that's obviously using Dungeon and Dragons sources but the story and all the major characters are original
• Similarly Bob and Alice are random characters inspired by Star Wars in the background of Coruscant with their own story going on. Jedi and Sith never come up or are only slightly mentioned.
• You're using the setting as inspiration but writing about things far in the past, future, or otherwise away from the canon events, expanding things to the extent that very little of the original canon is mentioned (I've written a couple of Thundercats culture myths - we have no evidence in the show that the different Thundercats even are from different cultures and nothing about folklore, mythology, religion, etc)
• 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
• Main or minor character in your story 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)
• You're rewriting a fairy tale or using one as inspiration - all the characters are created for this story

Which of these are fanfic and which are also crossovers? I'd allow all of these and let the writer decide whether or not they want to count it as a mosaic.

These are the current q&as for Mosaic

• If I write something with someone else using both of our canons, is it a Mosaic? Yes, and it would also be Interactive Art.
• So I can write fanfiction, right? Not exactly. This isn't a fanfic community, so while you can write a crossover with a media source (book, movie, series, video game, or tabletop rpg, etc), it needs to either be an alternative universe of your story/series or the crossover should be a minor aspect of your story/series. We have examples of what is and is not acceptable (including specifics for tabletop role-playing games) (the examples are currently empty)
• What if I'm using open-source settings or characters like The Free Universe or Jenny Everywhere? (linking to the TVTropes page for Jenny Everywhere instead of JennyEverywhere.net as the latter's style is hard to read). As these are established characters, it would still count as a crossover and so a mosaic. Follow the rules that the open-source requires and you're good to go (these don't count as a media source).
• What about public domain stories? While Pride and Prejudice and Zombies proved you can legally publish crossovers, it's still (more or less) fanfic, and we're not a fanfic community. You can write them, but they're the same as any other crossover with a media source.
• What about mythology, folklore, etc? Go wild, but keep an eye on what interpretations are influencing you. Writing about Thor is cool, but writing Marvel Comics' Thor is not. (this is going to get clarified - I don't think this has to be a mosaic - and it'd include fairy tales and historical figures)

(dates are approximate)

This is the place for any questions or suggestions you have for rainbowfic , rainbowlists , and 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

As I said on the discord, I'm making a weekly post (more or less) where people can ask questions about how things work. This includes 'does this supply or style count for this?' and 'what are the limits on this?' This is also a place for suggestions, including games, colors, styles, etc.

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.

So ask away