(revised February 2004)

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Rules

1. No flaming, character-bashing, author-bashing, MutantEnemy-bashing, etc will be allowed. Discussion and constructive criticism, on the other hand, is strongly encouraged.

2. There will be no discussions about the validity of slash as a genre. This does *not* mean that members may not discuss whether a particular slash pairing was convincing for them as presented in a particular story. It only means that this list is a Safe Space for slash fans who don't wish to hear or defend against criticisms of slash *on the whole* being out of character. Please avoid: "This story didn't convince me because I don't and will never think that Xander could be gay." Perfectly fine: "This story didn't convince me that Xander would sleep with Angel given their past history." Worth Keeping In Mind: If you don't believe that Xander would *ever* sleep with Angel given their past history, you might consider abstaining from voting on Xander/Angel stories, unless you have unrelated problems with the writing.

3. When discussing a story, even if you feel it is truly bad, please remember that the author is probably reading. Try hard to stop a discussion from devolving into what could feel like victimisation to the author.

4. That said, comments about what the author seems to have intended in a story are not off-topic; they're a mainstay of criticism. Just please note the difference between talking about authorial intent in terms of successful storytelling, and making personal judgements about the author based on what you assume their intent was. The second one is out of place on this list.

5. Spoiler warnings and spoiler space must be used before fic recs or discussions involving the current season of Angel, the series. Spoiler warnings and spaces are also required before any discussion of a fic which will involve giving away important plot points of the story itself.

6. This is a list for over-18s only. A statement of age must be provided before membership is allowed. Despite this, if recommending a fic that contains subject matter that is likely to offend -- rape, character death, etc -- please warn appropriately.

7. Fic is not to be posted to the lists, only recs and discussion.

8. Members cannot recommend their own fic, and should abstain from voting on those stories when it comes time for determining whether they should be archived. Authors are welcome to join in on discussions of those stories, however.

9. When discussing a story, the owner and the moderators are speaking only as readers, not as list administrators. If we're going to say something with the Hellgod Powers of List Administration behind it, you'll know it by the big ADMIN in the subject line.

10. The list membership is restricted to protect us from charges of corrupting the youth of today, and from spammers and anti-slash trolls. It's not a private list in the sense that things you say on it have the same privileged no-repeato-in-publico netiquette that an e-mail sent from one individual to another has. Keep this in mind before you say anything you wouldn't want quoted elsewhere.

11. Anyone who persistently ignores these rules despite discussion with list moderators will be removed from the list.

12. If members have any questions or problems with the list, the list rules, or the actions of other posters, PLEASE contact the list moderators, and we'll do the best we can to resolve the situation. If a list/rules issue seems to warrant discussion by all members of the list, moderators will be happy to open up an ADMIN topic for such discussion. All moderators will receive e-mail sent to betterbuffyslash-owner@yahoogroups.com

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Definitions

1. What do we mean when we say "Better Buffy Slash" for the purposes of this list?

"Better" fanfic = well-written, because that makes any individual story "better" than a large amount of the fanfic out there. What makes a story well-written is of course open to discussion and debate, which is permitted and in fact encouraged on the list. "Better" does not have to equal "Best;" that's why we have two different words for these things. We're not here to only recommend or archive the very best in slash, though each member is certainly welcome to hold their *own* recs to that standard. A story does not have to be something that *all* people enjoy, to be Better Buffy Slash, and it doesn't have to be perfect; the recommender just has to think it was well-written and that other readers might like it too.

"Buffy" fanfic seems pretty self-explanatory, but just in case it needs clarification, that would be fanfic featuring any of the BtVS or A:ts characters, including crossovers with other fictional universes. That doesn't include the actors who play the characters, or other real people aside from public figures acting in their public capacity as part of the plot. This list has no position on Real People Fiction, except that it's not what we rec here.

"Slash" fanfic = fanfic that features same-gender relationships, same-gender sexual/romantic issues, and/or same-gender sex. Yes, many people have different personal views on this definition, but this is the one we're using for the purposes of reccing stories on this list.

2. What's a flame?

A flame is intentionally insulting language directed personally towards another poster or a story's author. Negative criticism of a story, even if it discusses the author's apparent intent, is not a flame. Conversely, moral judgments about an author or poster may or may not look like a flame depending on how politely they're worded -- but they're still incendiary, and they have nothing to do with the quality of a story.

Yes, it's a gray area. Suggestion: if you're worried about how something you want to say is going to come off, ask a friend. Or ask a mod; we want very much to help maintain a comfortable atmosphere for everyone. If something that's posted gets taken the wrong way, or causes tempers to flare, the mods are not going to start banning people right and left or posting their names on a Wall of Shame; we'll just step in to calm things down. The only situation in which a poster might be moderated or banned would be for *continually* being antagonistic, after being asked to tone it down. Or, you know, spamming us with Free Pr0n that isn't gay.

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Rec Procedure

Recs can be for any Buffyverse based story involving homoeroticism, such as m/m slash, f/f slash, gayfic, threesomes, or even gen with a slashy feel. Stories involving the actors of BtVS and AtS are *not* included in this purview.

Members should rec using something approaching the format below. This is to make archiving an easier task. For the same reason, PLEASE make sure the subject line of a recommendation post contains the name of the story being rec'ed.

Title:
Author:
Link:
Rating:
Spoiler rating (timeline):
Approx. length:
Summary/ pairing:
Detailed rec:

In response to a recommendation, discussion is permitted and encouraged. That discussion can include debate on whether the story should be added to the Better Buffy Slash Archive, but it doesn't *have* to -- simple conversations about why one enjoyed or didn't enjoy the story are just as welcome.

Works in Progress (WiPs) may be discussed and unofficially recommended, but cannot be archived until complete. They will therefore need a formal rec, once completed, for inclusion in the archive.

While an ongoing series of stories can be unofficially recommended and discussed, only finished stories can be voted on for archiving. The answer in cases such as these seems to be to recommend the completed stories within a series, either individually, or as an "arc" if the series is broken up in that manner. (as is, for example, the Brat Queen's "Epiphany" series.)

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Archive Admin

Currently, there is no limit on the number of stories by one author that can be archived. However, we reserve our right to change our minds about this at a later date if things look in danger of becoming unbalanced.

After a story has received a recommendation, it will be added to the mailing list's Yahoo database, and is permanently open for discussion. Voting for whether it is to be added to the archive website will occur at the end of the month in which the story is recommended, unless the recommendation itself happens at the end of the month, in which case that story will be added to the voting list for the next month.

Voting on archive-inclusion is done via an offlist, anonymous poll. Members can choose between the options of Archive, Don't Archive, or Abstaining. (One can also abstain by simply not clicking any button for a particular story.)

A week after the poll is opened, the results will be tallied, and those stories which received more Archive than Don't Archive votes will be listed in the database as 'to be archived.' Permission to do so will be requested from the author. If permission isn't received, the recommendation and a link to the author's website will be placed in the "Non-archived recommendations" section of the archive. Those stories that received more Don't Archive votes will be removed from the database -- they may be recommended again at any time, however.

A quote from the original recommender will be used as part of the header of the archived story or offsite recommendation, so that archive readers can see what the recommendation was without having to join this list. If anyone does *not* want their recommendation (original or supporting) to be quoted on the website, just mention it at the time of the recommendation, and we'll be happy to use a quote from someone else. If your quote is posted with the archived story and you'd like it edited or removed, that's fine too - just let the list admins know.

In the case of epic length series, permission will be requested from the author to archive a 'teaser' chapter/story, and the rest will be clearly linked to off site.

The webmistresses reserve the right to remove stories if the author or a copyright holder has requested their removal, or if, unfortunately, they have proven to be plagiarized.

The mailing list and archive are currently owned by Mad Poetess but an e-mail sent to bbslash@betterbuffyslash.slashcity.org will reach all administrators.