Queer Fest

There are going to be some changes in Queer Fest this year. Unfortunately, personal issues for the mods mean that the usual claiming and posting schedule cannot be accommodated.

However, prompts have already been made, so the fest will proceed. We are simply proceeding in a much less formal manner.

• Participants may use any of the prompts that were made in the comments of this post and not rejected  and may write fic or create art for them.
• You may post them to the AO3 collection for 2014, but that is optional.
• Please do post at least a link to this community, however.
• You may post whenever you are finished
• You may complete as many prompts as you like.
• There will be no claiming process this year
• There are no word count requirements.

Essentially, the entire fest is being run on the same basis as the freeforall basis.

The rest of the rules do still apply. Absolutely no changing of the gender identity or sexual orientation from the original prompt will be tolerated. Please review the rules before you proceed.

Sorry for the way that the fest has gone this year, but the personal and medical problems cannot be avoided. This is the best compromise we can make. Hopefully it can be back on track next year.

We hope you plan to participate this year, despite the chaos.

As a reminder, today is the last day queer fest will be taking prompts for 2014.

(In reality, the prompt post will stay up until the mods are awake tomorrow morning. That should roughly translate to 10 a.m. EST.)

If you need to reach the mods through email, the address you can use is queerfestmods at gmail.

We have a tumblr this year, too. You can ask questions or submit prompts through tumblr if you would prefer! The tumblr for the community is queer-fest

Hi, and welcome to the 2014 edition of queer_fest! Please be sure to read the rules carefully before participating. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to leave a comment to this post or to PM queer_fest_mods.

Q. What type of prompts/stories/art are allowed?

A. The purpose of queer_fest is to celebrate and examine the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, genderqueer, asexual, intersex, and trans characters through fanfic and fanart. There are many themes of intersectionality that you can explore through prompts/stories about disabilities, race, being poly, being kinky and all of those are welcome, as long as they focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, genderqueer, asexual, intersex, or trans characters.

Q. How much of the of the prompt/fanfic/art has to be devoted to the character's experience of being queer?

At least some of it. That's a vague answer. But what this means in practice is that if you want to prompt/write/draw the adventure of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark slaying a dragon together and you want that to be the main plot, that is fine as long as the experience of being queer is mentioned in the fic! Maybe Steve is really disappointed that this is the third time that his attempt to visit the queer friendly toy store has been thwarted by a dragon attempt. Maybe Tony is happy to be slaying dragons and away from asshole republican reporters. Maybe they are both getting texts from Bucky, who has decided to catch up on Bomb Girls without either of his two partners.

Importantly: Simply having Steve and Tony in a relationship is not exploring the experience of being queer. That's your standard slash fic, and that's cool! But not the point of this community or this fest.

Alternately, if you want the entire prompt/fic/art to focus on the experience of being queer, that's cool too.  

Q.  What types of themes are allowed?

A. Themes can include, but are not limited to: stories about coming out, figuring out sexual orientation or gender identity, planning your awesome same-sex wedding, attending pride celebrations, figuring out your place in the queer community, the politics or social structures involving queer individuals in fictional worlds, or dealing with prejudice.

We want to make it very clear: positive stories about queer experiences are very much welcome and encouraged, but this is a safe space for many who have not had a positive experience, whether with family or society. Please do not bash prompts on either end of that spectrum. If you cannot be respectful of multiple types of queer experiences, this is not the fest for you.

Again, because it comes up multiple times each year: Happy fics and art and prompts are loved and encouraged. Not so happy fics and art and prompts are loved and encouraged. If that's not okay with you, this is not the fest for you.


Q. Do characters have to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, genderqueer, asexual, intersex, or trans in the canon source?

A. No.

Q. If the characters are lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, genderqueer, asexual, intersex or trans in the original canon, can I request them to be a different type of queer character? AKA, can I request a gay male character to be a bisexual male character?

Yes. This is true of RPF fandoms, too. However, you may not change the gender identity or sexual orientation of a prompt. If someone prompts a gay male character, you cannot write them as a bisexual male character.

Q. What types of fandoms are allowed?

A. All fandoms are allowed, including RPF. For RPF fandoms, characters involved must be at least 18. This is only an RPF fandom rule, and characters in fictional fandoms do not have to be 18.

Q. What's not allowed?

A.  We want this fest to be as open as possible, but the following are not welcome here:

• PWP stories ARE AWESOME. But they are not the point of this fest. Stories that are merely hook-up stories, or which focus on the relationships between characters and not their gender identities or sexual orientations, are not within the spirit or scope of the fest.  Stories can definitely include characters having sex, but should be about the experiences of being lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, genderqueer, asexual, intersex, or trans.



• Prompts/stories that focus on non-queer individuals or allies are not in the spirit of the fest. This includes their reactions to their queer family/co-workers/teammates.



• Prompts/stories in which characters question their sexual orientation/gender identity and decide that they are not queer after all are not welcome here. The focus for this fest is on individuals who do identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, genderqueer, asexual, intersex, or trans.

Q. What are the story/art length requirements?

A. All stories must be at least 1000 words long. As for art: you should put comparable amount of effort into it and it should be complete, not a sketch of what you would have finished if you'd had more time. Most types of art are acceptable: i.e., Tumblr gif sets are fine, traditional art is fine, comic strips are fine. Icon sets are not acceptable.

Q. What other story and art requirements are there?

Stories and art are not gifts, but they should be in the spirit of the prompt you claim. This means no changing the gender identity or sexual orientation from the original prompt. For example, if the prompt you claim specifies a bisexual character, do not change that to a gay character or vice versa. It's our goal to respect all members of the queer umbrella, and changing the original request doesn't really do that.

Stories posted to the community should be respectful of all aspects of the queer community. If your story is about sexual gay men, it should not bash aromantic asexuals. If your story is about lesbians, do not bash bisexual women. This is not to say that homophobic/biphobic/intolerant characters cannot be included. Those themes are within the scope of the fest. But the story itself should not be used as an excuse to bash other types of queer individuals.

Q.  What type of warnings do I have to include?

A.  The following must be warned for: rape/non-con, dub-con, underage, child abuse, character death, incest.  Anything else is up to the author.  If your story features one of these elements and you do not wish to warn for it, you must include a "Choose Not to Warn" or similar type of warning.

Q. Where can I post?

A.  You can post your fic anywhere you want - LJ, DW, AO3, your own website, tumblr. Anywhere you feel comfortable. But you must post at least a link on this community.  Additionally, there will be an AO3 collection.

All posts should be tagged with the appropriate fandom(s), using the fandom: fandom name tag.

Q. What type of headers do I need to use?

A. All posts should include the following information in their header:

Title:
Author:
Fandom:
Pairing/characters:
Rating:
Prompt:
Summary:
Warnings: (if any)
Author's Notes: (if any)

Q. How does claiming work?

A.  Everyone may claim up to 3 prompts and every prompt may be claimed up to two times. When  you claim a prompt, you must claim a posting day. Up to 10  people may sign up for each date. If you pick more than one prompt, you will need to pick different days, one for each prompt.

You do not have to prompt in order to claim and prompting does not obligate you to make a claim.

Q. About the Free For All Period
A.  During the Free For All Period 
anyone can submit fic of any length from any unclaimed prompt on the prompt list.

Q. What happens if I am inspired to write fic after the fest is over?

A. After the fest closes, a post will go up that allows you to link to any fic that you post during the year that is inspired by any of the prompts.

Q. What is the 2014 Schedule?

A.  Prompt submission: March 14 to March 29
Prompt claiming: April 1 to April 15
Posting begins: May 15
Posting ends: June 15
Free For All: June 16-June 30

Q. What happens if I find a prompt offensive?

A. Please let us know. We will be checking each of the prompts and making that call, and it's possible we simply haven't seen that prompt yet. You can PM us or leave a comment to this post.

Though queer_fest is officially closed to new posts, the queer_fest prompts are still open for anyone who would like to use them for inspiration.

No claiming is necessary and any of the prompts - claimed or not claimed - are up for grabs. Post any new story to the AO3 or your own journal and link them in the comments of this post. There is no minimum word count.

Please do consult the rules. The rule about not changing the sexuality or gender orientation of a prompt is still in place.

As always, posting to the AO3 collection is optional.

Use the following template when linking in the comments:

Fandom:
Title + link to the story:
Author:
Pairing/characters:
Rating:
Prompt:
Your summary:

Prompts:

Prompt Post 1: hack/SIGN - Gunnerkrigg Court
Prompt Post 2: Hamlet - Mythology
Prompt Post 3: National Treasure - Xena Warrior Princess