WANK POLICY

[hso_mods]

The majority of this post has been lifted with permission from st_respect; some has also been lifted with permission from goblinmarket_sw. Any and all errors are mimicre's!

YOU MUST READ AND AGREE TO THE TERMS SET IN THIS POST IN ORDER TO JOIN THE HOMESTUCK SHIPPING OLYMPICS.

WANK WANK WANK (and how to avoid it)

If you haven't seen it yet, you have been incredibly lucky. As I'm sure you have all realized by now, the HSO is intended to be a wank-free event--and if you want to participate, we know you agree. This is simply the post you can refer to when you feel you're on the edge or even that someone else might be getting there.

Wank: A Definition

As cards_slash has defined, we are considering wank to be

anything that is intentionally inflammatory/insulting/worthy of the grade-school playground.

There honestly isn't anything more to say than that. If you need a more in-depth explanation I would suggest google or a little research time on Fandom Wank.

Wank: A Punishment

Now we all know that despite all the best intentions and warnings, etc., stuff does happen and so does wank. So this is our 3-strike system; we will usually try to talk to the people beforehand but if a person is not listening/back-sassing/refusing to take it to a more private place to be dealt with by the mods, then this is what happens.

Strike 1: Warning. One warning will be given, the thread/comment will be frozen/screened and the reason for it will be given by the Mod freezing the thread. We will not delete the wank comments unless they are deliberately bigoted/incredibly inflammatory/nobody needs to see that crap/etc otherwise it will be left as a warning to people i.e. don't let this happen to you. All mods will be informed of the warning and the wanker's name will be put on a list along with the nature of the wank.

Strike 2: One Week Ban. If the wanker persists past the warning, they are banned for one week. They are not allowed to be involved in anything within the main comm or their ship's comm, the ship's palhoncho will be informed of the wanker's ban and will be expected to coordinate with the mods thusly. After the week's challenge is up they will be allowed back into the game on the proviso that mods will be watching them closely.

Strike 3: Full Out Ban. If the wanker keeps persisting after the one week ban they are full out banned. No more warnings, chances or anything of the sort. The wanker has shown that they are persistently choosing to ignore the rules and the spirit of this comm and clearly does not belong in it. We don't like wank and frankly nobody wants this place to end up as another Fandom Wank tale of woe. At this stage use of macros may be judiciously applied.

All strikes will be applied after full agreement on the mods' part.

PLEASE NOTE: In extreme cases we reserve the right to skip the strike system and go straight to banning; this will only occur if we judge that your presence is causing a definitively unsafe atmosphere.

Wank: How to Avoid it

It can happen to any of us: we're chillin', snacking on some delicious Fruit Gushers, and suddenly boom! there's a comment that just rubs you the wrong way.

First off, take a breath and relax. We can all get overexcited and say things we don't mean or read things wrongly. Is your reaction to such-and-such comment a valid concern or are you in a mood where everything is just hitting you wrong? While we doubt that any of you will type out a rash response and get into a flame war we also know that it can happen.

If you've gone through these questions and this comment/whatever is still annoying you this is your easy 3-step process.

Step 1: Do NOT under any circumstances reply to it or make a snide remark somewhere or anything of the sort. The mods do not appreciate or condone this and we don't need anyone to fight anyone else's (or even their own!) battles here. We understand that this can be a passionate subject and nobody likes to see their ship/whatever being bashed which is good, neither do we. But the best thing you can do is ignore the comment and move onto step 2.

Step 2: Inform a teacher an authority figure. Your Palhoncho or your mods, mods by e-mail/PM (e-mails at the bottom of this post) or your Palhoncho by whichever means they have given you. If after 24 hours you haven't gotten an e-mail back acknowledging that we have received it and are looking into the situation, please either e-mail another mod or go through your Palhoncho.

Step 3: Go back to chillin' and your delicious Fruit Gushers. You have done your duty and the dirty wanker will be taken care of. We don't want you involving yourself in wank that could get you banned. And trust me, if you do not follow these steps and take it upon yourself to show someone who is boss or go past anything but friendly/fun discussion you will suddenly find yourself at Strike One.

Comments: What We Want, What We Don’t

First off, we need to define the various kinds of posts you will see on this community. They are, in no particular order, as follows:

+ Important announcements!
If the title of the post says IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT, you should read it and take it to heart. The sort of comments allowed on this vary from this to that depending on content but we would like you to remember the motto:

Defend Your Ship, Don’t Attack Theirs

You cannot expect anyone to respect your ship if you’re a douchebag. However, glee and joy and excitement are completely welcomed and encouraged. Just not douchebaggery. Clear?

+ Main round prompts!
Questions about and comments on the prompts should go here--nothing else.

+ Bonus round prompts!
Only bonus round fills should go here. All questions about and comments on the bonus round prompts should go to the FAQ.

+ Round entry posts!
Every round, we will open up a new comm to post round entries. These are by far the most important posts you will respond to. This is where we expect everyone to be good fans and remember the rules of polite interaction. Absolutely NO pairing-comparisons/bashing/wank is allowed on these posts. You will read the submission; you will leave a comment* that is one of the following:

-- Constructive criticism. If you’re not certain what that is: go here. If you give constructive criticism make sure it actually deals with something NOT PAIRING RELATED such as "this was good but your pairing still sucks" in flowery, well-mannered speech. If you’re too lazy to go to the link, expect constructive crit to go in the following manner: say something nice, offer suggestions as to how to improve something, say something nice.
"I like that you set this post-Hivebent, by using this setting you allowed the relationship to reach a mature stage before it progressed to bumping uglies. However, the story might benefit from the addition of first names. After the seventeenth ‘he’ I could not possibly figure out who was who. Also, your use of descriptive adjectives is masterful."

-- Praise: "Wow, that was good."
"I especially liked that you made Karkat a troll, that was a nice touch."
"The setting of this piece was all manner of unspeakably spooky."
"Your writing is like fine wine and stinky cheese—and I love both."


-- Revelations: "Dude, I totally never even knew that WV was a carapace!"
"I had never considered this particular angle of the relationship/pesterlog/etc."
"That is a great way to handle this prompt."

*before there is panic, you are not required to comment on every single prompt. If you feel the need to do so--all the better for it. You will need to comment on at the very, absolutely, positively least 3 submissions not of your ship.

+ Voting announcements!
This post will contain a link to the poll. Comments will be closed on these types of post.

+ Party post/awards ceremony!
Traditionally, at this point it’s time to congratulate the winner(s). If you don’t want to do that, we understand, so don’t say anything. However, if you leave a 'congratulations!' we will also accept empty, nonspecific threats of a humorous nature. Such as:

"Congrats. You've won this round but wait until we meet again."

"Awesome, you won! Next time, all these ships are going down."

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON TRASH-TALKING
For our peace of mind, we would like to suggest that trash-talking, especially trash-talking directed at specific people and teams, be primarily confined to private spaces, like askboxes and chats. The internet is extremely public, and folks who don't know the people involved in banter can often interpret things wrongly. This will not be monitored or penalized except in the following cases:

• Any threats of violence against specific people, ships, or teams, even jokingly (and we don't expect anyone to be even a little bit serious when threatening to beat up other teams or whatever), will land the person who made the threat at Strike One no matter where these sentiments are expressed. If we see it, it's too public.
  
• Absolutely no trash-talking directed at a specific person or team at all will be tolerated on any posts on the official HSO comm. Acceptable threats include "We're the best team and we're gonna take you all down!" but not "Team XYZ is gonna eat our dust!" or "Team XYZ destroys the rainforest and eats babies in their spare time!" even if your joking tone is visible from outer space and you have a signed affidavit from all parties that states nobody is serious. If you talk like this anywhere on the official HSO comm, the thread will be frozen and you will find yourself at Strike One.
  

The most important thing to remember here is that everyone here with an account is an actual living being. Very much like yourself, even. Even if you don't agree with something they're saying or what they like, they are still as deserving of respect as you are. Be happy, have fun, be willing to listen to someone else's POV, but above all else remember that this is not a fight to the death. :)

And finally, when you sign up, you will be asked to fill in a text block. This is what you must enter to participate in the HSO 2012:

I certify that I have read and will abide by the Wank Policy.

Contact Info

Mod email: homestuck.shipping@gmail.com
(This goes to both mimicre and influx.)
To report Wank, use the phrase "Wank Report" in your subject line.
If it needs to be dealt with immediately, also use the word "Urgent" in your subject line. (If you are unsure, just include it. Also, if you have tried once and had no response, it might be worth trying again with the word 'urgent' included)
Email is by far the most reliable form of communication. However, if for some reason that is not an option, feel free to submit asks to either of the HSO tumblrs or message us privately.

OR

Comment on the FAQ post.

OR

Contact your Palhoncho in the manner that they have specified on your ship comm.