b2mem | Marketplace Rules and Guidelines

At Back to Middle-earth Month 2015: Tharbad’s Greenway Spring Faire (the Middle-earth Marketplace for all you need), writers, artists, and other creators of fanworks are invited to challenge each other to create fanworks during the month of March! Because this is a spring faire, you will spend and earn farthings as you participate throughout the month by posting challenge prompts, claiming challenge prompts, and leaving reviews for other participants.

Rules

1. Prompts are available for anyone to purchase. More than one person can purchase a prompt.

2. There are no restrictions on content, either in the prompts or fanworks created in response. If you do not like a character, pairing, interpretation, prompt, etc., ignore it.

3. Fanworks using these prompts will be posted either in the community or another archive. You are allowed to crosspost to whatever site you wish to post on. No fanworks are allowed in the prompt posts.

4. Fanworks posted in the community must follow the B2MeM posting guidelines found on the community's profile regarding headers, warnings, cuts, etc. Posts can link to a work posted on another archive if you do not wish to post the work here, but they must still include the provided header.

5. Remember that prompt fills are not gifts; they are jumping-off points for fanworks. They may or may not conform to your personal likes and dislikes. Please also keep in mind that not all prompts may be filled.

Faire Farthings

The only coin accepted at the Tharbad's Greenway Spring Faire is the faire farthing. Each person attending the Faire will receive 15 farthings to begin their faire-going experience.

~ Offering a prompt at one of the market stalls costs 1 farthing.
~ Purchasing a prompt costs 1 farthing.
~ Each comment you leave on a B2MeM 2015 fanwork will earn you 1 farthing.*
~ You may earn farthings by offering services to the faire, such as creating icons/banners for the use of other faire-goers. Giving services earns 2 farthings for each service rendered.
~ Posting a fanwork does not cost or earn farthings, as you have already bought the prompt(s) the fanwork is based on.

If you need assistance in keeping track of what you have spent and earned, the Faire's official bookkeeper

zopyrus will be glad to help you, free of charge. Please visit the bookkeeping post for help.

*ETA March 7: A clarification-- only the first comment/review left on a fanwork earns you a farthing. Review replies and conversations do not.

How to post your prompts:

Leave a comment with the subject line identifying the main characters, gen/het/slash/femslash/poly (if it’s not obvious), a brief description of the prompt, and possible warnings if needed (MPTTor SWG’s). The comment itself should be the prompt.

If for some reason you cannot make a subject line appear, please write and bold the relevant information as the first line of your prompt.

The subject lines and/or bold text will allow participants to easily scan for prompts they're interested in.

For example:

Subject line-- Frodo and Aragorn, gen, hurt/comfort at the Field of Cormallen
Comment-- While Frodo is unconscious after being rescued from Mount Doom, Aragorn cares for him.

OR

Comment-- Fëanor/Nerdanel, wedding night, sexual content

On their wedding night, Fëanor and Nerdanel end up not sleeping at all, as they are too busy enjoying each other.

General Guidelines and FAQ

1. Who can participate?

Anyone! It doesn’t matter if this will be your first Tolkien fanwork or your hundredth; everyone is welcome to participate in B2MeM.

2. What if I don't have a LiveJournal account?

You don’t need one to participate. We welcome ‘anonymous’ comments, which don’t require a Livejournal login, from participants who don’t have a Livejournal account. However, unlike formats such as kink memes which allow truly anonymous comments, we require ‘anonymous’ comments to be signed. (For example, if your username on AO3 is FrodoFan1, then sign your comment with FrodoFan1.) Anonymous comments are automatically screened before they appear in the community, and unsigned comments will not be unscreened. If you want a LJ account, you can sign up for one here. There is also a version of OpenID available that also allows log-in through Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

3. How do I purchase a prompt?

Just reply to the prompt and say something like, "I'm buying this."

4. What sort of fanwork can I create with a prompt?

Anything you want-- fic, art, gif set, meta, craft, vid, etc.. If you think of it, and think it’s a fanwork, then it’s a fanwork.

5. Can I create a fanwork using a prompt I left?

Of course!

6. Can I combine prompts? What about using them in WIPs? What about crossovers and AUs?

Yes, you can combine prompts. You can also use them in WIPs. Crossovers and AUs are welcome as long as they have a significant basis in Tolkien’s works.

7. What if my prompt fits in more than one stall? For example, it takes place in both Mordor and Gondor.

Put it in the stall you think it fits best in; we trust your judgement. But please do not put identical prompts in more than one stall.

8. What if I don’t feel comfortable posting my work immediately or am using the prompt in a WIP or want to take time on my fanwork and don’t think I’ll complete it before March is over?

That’s perfectly fine! If you say you’re going to use the prompt, then we trust that you will. B2MeM has no deadlines; you do not have to post your work before March ends. The community is open year-round. (Nor do you have to post it at all if you do not wish to.)

9. What if I’m inspired by a prompt, but I didn’t find it until after B2MeM ends?

Create something for it! The prompts never expire.

Other Things

You can find a list of the market stalls (prompt pages) listed by location here.

The prompt posts will be up in the middle of the week.

The B2MeM community is on moderated status until March 1 GMT. This way, if you complete a fanwork early, you may post it without it showing up before the event begins. EDIT: The community is now in open posting.

For moral support and conversation, please check out the