Below are the rules that all posters on our board are expected to know and follow. Failure to follow these rules may result in the deletion of posts, and/or the suspension of posting rights on our board. Please note that AoVD reserves the right to review and revise these rules and guidelines at any time.

The Art of Vin Diesel does not accept the following materials:

Real Person Fiction. These are stories or RPs featuring Vin as himself, any other celebrities as themselves, or other real people who are not aware of, or agreeable with, their inclusion in the story. If you are writing a "gift fic" for a friend, who is the star of the story, we will need them to reply to the fic stating that you had their permission. In the case of RPs, playing yourself is construed as cybersex, so no self-insertions are allowed there. (The only exception is in the case of someone who adopts a character name as their common "handle" after writing the RP.)

Stories or RPs depicting sex with a minor. In most English-speaking countries, the age of consent is 16 years old, so this is the youngest that a character can be in any sexual depictions, consensual or not, and we would prefer that they be older.

Stories or RPs that are written by a minor and posted to this board. This is defined as anyone under the age of 18. If you are under 18, please do not embarrass yourself by forcing us to remove your story and your posting rights.

Where your story should go:

Fiction (other than Slash) that involves one of Vin's characters or takes place in the setting of one of his movies belongs in Vinspirations.

Stories and RPs written in the round-robin format should be posted in the aptly-named Round Robin forum.

Original fiction and fiction (other than Slash) that is set in other fandoms belongs in Diversity.

Fiction containing same-sex pairings, within or outside of Vin Fandoms, belongs in Different Strokes.

Fiction written as part of the Lyric Wheel project, including Slash pieces, belongs in the Lyric Wheel forum. Fiction pieces written as an accompaniment to lyrics but not part of the Lyric Wheel project belong in their respective forums (Vinspirations, Different Strokes, etc.)

All RPs, regardless of fandom and including Slash, belong in the Script Crypt.

Poetry of any type may be posted in The Coffee House.

The Writing Room, Beta Support, and Writing Challenges! fora are for discussions of writing, beta reading, and related issues ONLY. Please do not post fiction, RPs or poetry in there.

How your story should be posted:

Please only post one chapter per thread. We realize that many of you already have several chapters, or a complete story, done before you begin posting to our board, but if you upload multiple chapters in a single post, you run the risk of exceeding our board's record-size limitations, which can result in your post becoming unreadable, or even crash the board and force us to reset it.

Please only post one chapter per day. Again, we realize that you may have a lot of chapters to post, so our readers can "catch up" with other readers elsewhere. However, we've discovered that there's an inverse relationship between the amount an author posts and the number of readers they get (and how much feedback they get). Don't overwhelm readers with ten chapters for them to catch up on. Whet their appetites; if they like what you're doing, they'll be back the next day for more. Note: if you have multiple stories, you cannot post one chapter of each per day... pick one chapter and post just that one. Do not flood the board with multiple story posts in a single day.

What you must include in your post:

In the post's subject line, list the story title, chapter number, rating for the chapter, and source material, like this:

"Riddick Kicks Back," 5/15, NC-17, Pitch Black

This is so that people who are fans of a particular Vin movie know whether or not they'll be interested, how much of a "hard edge" they can expect, and also whether the chapter you're posting is a new one or one they've already read.

If you are reposting a chapter after revising it, please also include "Revised" at the end of the post's subject line. Otherwise your repost may be mistaken for a duplicate post and removed by the Moderators.

At the start of your story, please use the following Header format:

Title:

Author:

Chapter: Please indicate which chapter this is. If it's a single, complete-in-one-chapter story, use this format: 1/1. If it's a longer work, please use that format but indicate the current chapter number on the left, and the total number of chapters on the right. For example: 5/12. If you don't know how many chapters your story will be, use a ? on the right side. For example: 5/?.

Fandom: Please indicate which of Vin's movies (or what non-Vin-fandom movie) your story is based upon. If it's a crossover, list all relevant fandoms here. Alternate universe stories should be indicated with "AU."

Rating: Repeat your rating, as also listed in the subject line of your post.

Warnings: Please list all warnings for anything particularly disturbing or controversial in your chapter-rape, child abuse, drug abuse, a politically sensitive topic like abortion, etc.-please mention the presence of that material in this spot so your readers don't get slapped in the face with it unexpectedly. A complete list of standard warnings appears below.

Orientation: Gen for general (non-romantic or non-sexual) fiction, Het for romantic/erotic fiction featuring a heterosexual pairing, and Slash for romantic/erotic fiction featuring a same-sex pairing. PWP (plot-what-plot) should be used to designate stories that primarily focus on sexual content, and may contain little or no plot.

Pairing: If your story is Het or Slash, list the pairing that will be occurring here. For example: Dom/Letty, Riddick/Fry, Riddick/Jack, Dom/Brian, etc. OMC for Original Male Character and OFC for Original Female Character are also options. This gives your readers the chance to know whether you're pairing up two favorite characters, or pairing up two characters they'd rather not read about. Stories without a pairing should be listed as "None" in this category.

Summary: A basic summation of the plot of your story or chapter. Once again, this lets readers know whether or not the story is going to appeal to their tastes.

Disclaimer: Always remember to credit the original source of the materials, and state that you don't own the original materials or characters and are making no money off of your story. You can, however, state that new characters and situations are your property and are not to be reused without your permission.

Feedback: Please state whether or not you want feedback. If you do, would you want it e-mailed privately or posted to the story thread in the spirit of workshopping, or both. Please be aware that the outcome of requesting feedback may be the receipt of comments which you may not be happy with. Constructive criticism is encouraged but flaming will not be tolerated.
Warning: The default feedback expectation for the board, unless you specify otherwise, is that you're willing to receive detailed, public criticism posted as a reply to your story. If this is not the case, it is your responsibility to state how and where you wish to receive feedback.

Archive: This is important. By posting your story to our site, you give us permission to archive it. However, you can also explicitly state that your permission applies only to AoVD and other specific sites and that anyone else who wishes to archive your materials should ask you. If we can't archive it, you can't post it.

Notes: Here's where you can put information that doesn't fit above. This is the area to note any additional sources you used, if your story contains crossover characters, or if you used a movie or literary quote, or song lyrics. This is also a good spot to thank anyone who's helped you with the chapter, either beta-reading or proofreading it.

How to rate your post:

We are using a variation on the American MPAA system, as it has become the common standard of many fan fiction sites. The following is a guideline of how to rate your content:

G: No swearing, no violence, no innuendo, no sex. Nothing a four-year-old can't see and enjoy.

PG: Mild language, mild violence, some adult situations. No nudity or gore.

PG-13: Stronger language and some violence. Adult themes. Sexual situations but no nudity. Minimal gore.

R: Harsh language, strong violence, nudity and even stylized depictions of sexual intercourse may be present. Stronger gore may be present as well.

NC-17: Graphic violence and explicit sex fall into this heading. Any depictions of rape or non-consensual sex must receive this rating as well. Any depictions of torture must also receive this rating.

E: E signifies "Edge Fic" and may contain any or all of the following: character death, graphic rape, graphic violence, etc., whatever else really pushes the buttons of people who know they will be disturbed. The E rating is in addition to the American MPAA system, and the lowest rating an E story may be is PG-13. Thus, an R-rated story with E elements is R-E.

How to add warnings to your post:

The following is a standardized list of warnings used in our Fan Fiction Archives. Please use these warnings as applies to your story.

Adult Situations describes references to anything you would not discuss around a child, as long as it is not controversial. See Controversial Subject Matter.

Alcohol/Drug Use is the use of either or both substances for recreational purposes.

Anal Sex is the penetration of the anus by anything. This would also include analingus.

BDSM is the practice of domination and submission, in which each sexual partner willingly plays one or the other of those roles. It can include bondage, as well as the giving and receiving of painful stimulation for sexual gratification. The key here is that the behavior is consensual.

Controversial Subject Matter describes references to anything that isn't socially acceptable, such as child abuse, adultery, illegal activity, underage sex (which can be mentioned in a character's past but not described in any detail), etc.

Death is the end of a person's life by natural or accidental causes.

Explicit Sexual Content is any sexual activity that is described in graphic detail, especially if the description involves the sex organs.

F/F Slash is romantic and/or sexual activities between two women.

Graphic Violence/Gore is any violence that causes bleeding or injury, especially if it involves the use of a weapon.

Harsh Language involves either liberal use of curse words and/or more than a few uses of the "f" word.

Innuendo is conversation with a sexual undertone.

M/M Slash is romantic and/or sexual activities between two men.

Mild Language involves minimal use of curse words and only a few, if any, uses of the "f" word.

Mild Violence is pushing, shoving, and fighting that does not involve serious bloodletting or injury.

Minor Het (M/F) Scenes is for the appearance of romantic and/or sexual scenes involving a het (m/f) pairing in a slash-oriented fic. Use M/M Slash or F/F Slash for such scenes in a het-oriented fic.

Murder is the willful killing of a person by one or more others.

Non-Consensual Sex is an eroticised depiction of sexual acts in which one of the partners is a reluctant or unwilling participant

Rape is the forced sexual penetration of an unwilling participant.

Semi-Non-Consensual Sex is the depiction of sex in which one of the partners is initially reluctant or initially resists, but does eventually consent.

Sexual Assault is a sexual attack against another person that does not result in actual rape. This may include attempted rape.

Sexual Situations describes kissing and mild petting, any implied sexual activity that may take place "off screen" or marked sexual tension between people.

Torture/Abuse involves the deliberate, unwanted inflicting of physical or emotional pain on a person by one or more others.

The Use of Foreign Languages:

The Art of Vin Diesel website is a predominantly English-speaking site. However, we are committed to encouraging diversity in all possible ways, so here are a few rules regarding the use of foreign languages in your stories:

1. You may post stories that are written entirely in a foreign language, as long as the headers are in English.
    
2. If your story includes passages in foreign languages, depending upon which case applies, you must do one or the other of the following:
    
   1. If your POV character can understand what is being said, you must provide your readers with an English translation at the end of the relevant chapter, in the form of an Author's Note.
       
   2. If your POV character cannot understand what is being said, you do not have to provide your readers with a translation, but should mention in an author's note at the end of the relevant chapter that your character didn't understand either (assuming it isn't obvious from the story narrative.)
       
3. If your story just has a handful of words in another language, such as pet names and exclamations, no translations are necessary but your readers might appreciate them.

Following these rules will ensure that none of your readers think you're trying to deliberately talk over their heads or exclude them from fully enjoying your work.

Responsibility of the writer:

Because our fanfiction section is a workshop, our regulars want to be able to focus their critiques on the techniques you are using as a writer, focusing on what works and what doesn't, and how your story can be brought to the "next level." It's difficult for them to do this if they are distracted by basic mechanical errors, so please remember to do the following before you post:

1. Please use both upper and lowercase letters as appropriate. Stories written in entirely upper or lowercase are not permitted, and will be removed. TYPING IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS IS CONSTRUED AS SHOUTING AND WE DON'T LIKE LOUD AUTHORS ON OUR BOARD. Likewise, a story devoid of any proper capitalization smacks of laziness, and we don't take kindly to lazy authors either.
    
2. Please put a blank line between each paragraph as it makes it easy for people to follow the story. Our experience is that people who haven't put in blank lines have received little or no positive feedback as a result.
    
3. Please check your spelling and grammar before you post. The presence of a lot of spelling and grammar errors is another thing that discourages the amount of positive feedback writers receive. (If you use non-US English spelling, you may want to include a note to that effect in your headers.)

Responsibility of the reader:

1. There are no grounds for outrage if stories carry adequate warnings. If you read a story which offends you AFTER you read the warning, please don't blame us.
    
2. This is a workshop, so contributors should expect feedback. Everyone has the right to an opinion about a story and this may be expressed in a courteous fashion by way of feedback. However, no-one has the right to make personal remarks about an author or about anyone who offers constructive feedback. Any infringement which causes discomfort on the boards will result in perpetrators being excluded - banned.

The administrators of this board reserve the right to remove, without notice, any post that does not comply with the above guidelines.