Rules / FAQ
A Different Forest is an all-inclusive community for all things supernatural. Do you like Twilight? The Vampire Diaries?
Black Dagger Brotherhood? How about True Blood or old school vampire movies and novels? Do you love Harry Potter?
Well then, welcome to your special, happy place! We want to hear everything (both good and bad) that you have to say however-
we aren’t big fans of chaos, so we have created some simple rules that must be followed if you want to stay a member here at A Different Forest.
All you’ve ever wanted, and more, to know about:
SHARING
Absolutely no links to audio books, PDF books or movie scripts; no requests for them will be permitted. Same goes for movies. No illegal sharing, no illegal downloads, no leaked footage. We like to keep the forest clean of Cease and Desists, court dates and things of that nature.
PARTICIPATION
* If you don’t comment, we don’t know you’re here, and we want to know you and your opinions on ADF and fandom posts. We’re aware it can be intimidating to jump right into a conversation online, but please be assured your participation is appreciated and welcome…as long as you’re not personally attacking someone. Personal insults, derogatory comments and/or online intimidation is not tolerated on ADF. This site is intended to be a forum welcoming all opinions, popular or not, and a place for discussion ranging from the very silly to the heated debates. Opposing viewpoints and consequent discussion are welcome and even encouraged, so long as all participants keep it on topic and don’t resort to flame throwing and name calling. We heartily embrace the maxim “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” We want everyone to feel comfortable posting here with the exception of those who cannot hold an argument without resorting to personal attacks. Offenders will be banned from the site.
* We’re aware posting in an online community can be intimidating, however, it is a goal here at ADF that everyone feels comfortable participating. Please be assured your comments and posts are welcome and appreciated, even if you’ve never posted before. We’re always happy to have new names around the place.
* A Different Forest is user generated, we cannot stress that enough. User generated. This means it is up to members to decide what kind of site this is. Example: If you are a Kristen Stewart fan and feel there isn’t enough Kristen love on the site, make some Kristen love happen! If you are concerned or put off that a certain fic isn’t getting enough attention, use ADF to draw attention to it. This site will go in whichever direction members swing it.
* Please remember to make posts interactive. For example, if you want start a post about how wonderful Twilight is, don’t write I love Twilight because Edward Cullen is amazing. Write I love Twilight because Edward Cullen is amazing. What do you love about Twilight?
* Keep posts on topic, by on topic we mean anything fandom related, including but not limited to fanfiction discussions, anything related to Twlight, Harry Potter and other supernatural books, movies, television series, cast members, etc. You'll see Rangers posting about shoes, food and hair products during non free-for-all times. Rangers do this to keep discussion going. If you do want to make an off-topic post, private message a Ranger for permission to do so before you post. If you don’t ask for and/or receive permission beforehand, your post is subject to deletion.
* All Campers are hereby given notice that frolicking in this Forest is quid pro quo. If you're here to ask for a recommendation or locate a misplaced story, your campfire will be doused unless you INCLUDE A RECOMMENDATION WITH A LINK of one of your own fave stories. We're not kidding about this. Each Ranger has a brand new Fire Extinguisher in hand.
* Regarding Fic Promotion: We love to know what our authors are writing at ADF, but please refrain from blowing your own horn. There are some very good reasons we don't want self-promotion in the Forest: potential readers are FAR MORE LIKELY to respond to a reader's recommendation than a writer's plea for feedback. No one wants to be your guinea pig audience, but everyone wants to read something someone else has already given a stamp of approval.
We're doing YOU, the writer, a service by insisting upon third-party promotions only.
Even so, the Forest generously provides TWO campfires during the week that allow YOU, the WRITER, to showcase yourself on your own terms: The Sneak Peek and Pimp campfires. Please use these to promote (or pimp!) the fan fiction you write. These Campfires aggregate all these recommendations for easier searchability on the site whereas Campfires lit by the author for their own self-promotion mean each promo stands alone and is very hard to search later.
Plus, STAND-ALONE SELF-PROMOTION CAMPFIRES ARE NOT ALLOWED. Essentially: No Self-Pimping in the forest. Thank you.
RANGERS AND HOW TO USE THEM
“Rangers” are what we call the moderators of A Different Forest; “campfires” are what we call the posts. A Different Forest (ADF) was created to be different from other Twilight fan sites out there, so we chose the forest as our setting because it is the place in the Twiverse where vampires and werewolves are on equal footing. We hope our forest is a place where all points of view can be freely and openly represented, but don’t get lost in the kitschy theme of the old American National Parks system. You’ll notice we refer to “campers” (the members of ADF) or “the Forest” (the website) and now you know those terms of endearment are simply the threads that tie us to our ideal that we’re all on equal footing here.
*You can send a Ranger a private message by clicking their icon.
*If at any you feel like you or someone else has been personally attacked or there is any kind of issue from fandom controversy to technical hiccups, please private message a Ranger. If you don’t get a prompt response, try another one. We want to know about all concerns regarding the site so as they can be dealt with appropriately.
*If you would like to promote your community/site/blog, please ASK us first (we may even want to affiliate with you). Abuse of this rule results in a ban of abuser’s IP address. When in doubt, Page a Ranger, please.
*We don’t usually bite. We are not mean, hateful or biased. If you have any questions, concerns or comments about A Different Forest, please e-mail adifferentforest@gmail.com or Page a Ranger.
FREE FOR ALL
*Free For All, or FFA, begins at 12 AM EST. every Friday and runs through 7 PM EST every Sunday. During FFA all posts, off-topic or not, are allowed(self-pimping
not included). Occasionally, FFA times will change for holidays, movie release countdowns, or anything special going on. The standard weekend times will always be in effect, regardless of any other changes.
Rules, Criteria and Other Guidelines for Posting Fanfiction:
- Any author posting fanfiction, multi-chapter or otherwise, must have a completed work already in existence. One-shots are considered one complete work.
- All works are subject to rejection or deletion at the discretion of the Rangers on ADF. Having your fic rejected or deleted can be avoided by adhering to the following rules:
- *No pedophilia. While many can argue this case regarding fics with May/December romances and/or the imprinting issue, use your discretion before deciding to post something disgusting, because we will definitely be using ours.
- *No bestiality. See the explanation for no pedophilia.
- *No racial hate. No homosexual hate. There is a difference between developing an ignorant jerk character and an author using this site and fanfiction to rant. If you don’t know if you’re doing it right, you’re probably not, and you definitely shouldn’t post it, because we won’t tolerate it.
- *Though ADF will not beta, edit or make changes to any works submitted, we do encourage writers to use a beta or proofreader because, even though our process has changed, we still very much wish to maintain a library of good quality fics. This means authors should adhere to basic accepted rules of grammar and spelling. Excessive typos or grammatical errors that detract from reader comprehension may be grounds for story deletion.
- If your fanfiction contains any type of abuse, physical, verbal, sexual or otherwise, please note it in an author’s note. Same goes for suicide or any other known triggers. Be sensitive to fellow members.
- The approval process is in effect to make sure the above rules have been adhered to.
- Chances are, there will be fics posted that you find in poor taste and/or plain out do not appeal to you. Before you send a complaint about a fic to a Ranger, please consider if the content in the offending fic is against site rules, or if you just don’t like it. The rules may be different, but this is still ADF, where one of the main objectives is to provide a community where there is “something for everyone.”
- We are thrilled to be hosting your supernatural fanfiction. If you have a twitter account, we ask that in return for posting here, you follow @differentforest on twitter. Thank you!