Alternatives Forum

Introducing the New Forum System we now use on the Blissful Ignorance network (which Alternatives is a part of).

General Information

The whole forum deal first began on the Heero and Relena dedicated site Blissful Ignorance. It allows authors to post their own fics the moment they want to submit them! This takes care of the problem of lacking updates. All forums are located on the Blissful Ignorance site. There are many different forums, such as a Heero and Relena one, an Escaflowne one, the list goes on. But there also is a special forum just for Alternative pairings! This is the forum that you, my fellow Alternative pairing fan, will submit to and view.

LEMONS WILL BE ACCEPTED ON THE FORUMS! (They will still not be allowed on the actual archive. Thanks!)

Please make sure you still follow these important guidelines before you submit a story to the Alternatives Forum:

1)Your story must be NON-yaoi

NOTE: At least make sure the main couple is non-yaoi and any yaoi scenes are not graphic. Please note that the webmistress will still be checking the forums, as well as another moderator. Both have the right to take down a post with yaoi content if she feels it detracts from the story...no questions asked. Also, stories that have Heero in a yaoi relationship are advised not to be submitted.

2)The story MUST focus on an Alternate Pairing

To make clear the definition of "alternate" :

An alternate pairing is any couple not thought of as traditional; "Traditional" meaning the pairs that are most likely to occur based on the evidence from the show, and also referring to the characters who seem to have developed an obvious relationship/connection during the series. The only exception to this is Trowa. His female counterpart in the series is his sister, Catherine, therefore they can't be considered a "couple". Although highly debatable, Trowa's accepted traditional significant other nowadays seems to be Midii Une, who did not appear in the actual series. If you are interested in this pairing, please check out the Believe Your Love forum.

If your main couple does NOT include the pairings listed below, then you are good to go.

Traditional Pairings:

Heero and Relena
Duo and Hilde
Zechs/Milliardo and Noin
Treize and Lady Une/Ann
Quatre and Dorothy
Wufei and Sally
Trowa and Midii Une

PLEASE NOTE: Do not have an original charater in the main pairing of the story. Don't get me wrong, I love stories with OC's, just try to have an alternate Gundam Wing couple as a major pairing in your story. Then you can pair up the other characters with as many OC's as you want!

And to clarify, you can have traditional pairings in your stories, just make sure you have an alternative couple in there as your main pair!

I have noted this before, but I just wanted to mention it again: Unfinished fanfictions already hosted in the Alternatives archive may still be featured in the original archive. Keep sending your new chapters directly to me and I will post them as soon as I can.

Also, I encourage anyone with stories already archived to post them on the forums as well! You will receive more publicity from the BI visitors browsing through all of the forums. ^_~

To get started posting right away, click on the link to the forum page below. There is a good FAQ guide on the main forums page. For some more information and a forum help guide I've put together, keep reading.

Click HERE for the link to the forum page.

Sphinx's 'lil attempt at a Forum Help Guide

Ok, actually, it's turned into a pretty big attempt at a help guide. There's four sections: Registration, Posting, Replying, and Viewing. The Viewing section is more like an overview for getting familiar with the forum page and contains some repeat info from the other sections because it's meant for fans who don't want to post fics or replies. Alrighty, let's get started!

Registration

You have to register to be able to post stories (and replies) on the forums, but you don't need any cookies or extras, there are no fees or ads you will receive by registering your name. It is really harmless, I swear. I did it, and I'm a very cautious web user.

To Register:

*Go the the main forum page on Blissful Ignorance (http://www.blissfulignorance.com/phpBB/index.php)

*Click the "Register" link in the upper right corner of the page

*Fill out the profile (only starred topics are required) and click "submit" at the bottom when you are done.

*The computer will send you an email welcoming you to the forums and give you a password. I would suggest that the first thing you do is change this password to something you'll remember.

*To change your password, click "Edit Preferences" on the main forum page, again in the upper right corner. You will get a box that will allow you to type a new password. Click "save preferences" at the bottom and verify the change.

Posting

I think a lot of people are confused by the forums, I'll admit it, I was. The layout is awesome, but is also pretty busy, so I can easily understand having trouble. Don't hesitate to email me if you need some help. Ok, so moving on, once you are registered, you are now able to post.

To Post:

*On the main forum page, in the upper right corner, click the "Login" Button. You must be logged in to post a topic. A box will pop up requiring you to enter your user name and password. That's it for the login!

*After you are logged in, look at the forums. The title of each forum is in the gray headings. Find the Alternatives forum. It's the fifth one if you scroll down.

*In the Alternatives forum box, click on the link labeled "Alternatives Fanfiction Showcase". This is the forum your fanfictions will be hosted in. (Note: The other forum is for featured authors only, chosen to be archived separately on their own pages of BI. They are mainly HYxRP writers who may have written an alternate pairing too.)

*Once in your proper forum, click on "New Topic" in the upper right corner of the forums page. It's in big white bold letters, above the usual links there. (It took me forever to find that ^^;;;)

*A box will appear, showing your username, a "subject" field, a "message body" field, and an "options" field.

*In the "subject" field, write the title of your fanfiction, specifying pairing and, if need be, chapter(s).

*In the "message body" field, paste your fanfiction directly into the field, and don't worry, it can take a lot of text.

*In the "options" field, check any option you wish to apply. You do not need to check any.

*Click the "submit" button at the bottom when you are done. Your fiction should now be posted.

*When you are done using the forum, don't forget to logout. Click the "Logout" button in the upper right hand corner of the screen. And if you were wondering, yes, there are two links you can choose from, either will work.

*Editing posts is always possible. Click the link to your story on the forum and scroll down until you reach the end. There should be various little symbols on the bottom, one labled "edit" (having a paper and pen). Click this button. It will allow you to go back and change your text. Click "submit" at the bottom when you are done.

*The other thing that may seem a little different has to do with chapter fics. If you've written a new chapter to a story you already have posted, just create a New Topic to post it. It might be separated from your other chapter a bit, but don't worry, if it has the same title with the chapter clearly marked, people will understand and find it!

Replying

This is a really cool feature of the forums. Readers are now able to post replies to fanfictions. I think that this is a great opportunity to provide encouragement and feedback to your favorite fanfiction authors!

To Reply:

*You only have an option to reply if you are on the fanfiction's individual page and are a registered forum user.

*To post a reply to a fanfiction (which is always encouraged) click the "Reply" button either in the bottom left corner right below the story box or at the ever-popular top right corner of the page. At either place, the "Reply" link will be right next to the "New Topic" link and will have the same white, bold-face type.

*When you click the "Reply" link, a box will come up with a text field where you can write your reply. Once you are done, click the "submit" button at the bottom of the box.

*Your reply will be displayed on an additional page after the fanfiction you've replied to, or after the most current reply to the fic. All replies can be viewed through the fanfiction's link by any forum browser, and each reply will be on a separate page after the fic.

*A note about viewing pages: On either the top or bottom left corner of the box that contains a fanfiction, there is a little scroll bar labelled "Pages". Hit the down arrow to choose what page you'd like to jump to. (That was another tricky little bugger to find. :P)

*And just a reminder, please be courteous when replying. I'll be constantly scanning the forums, and checking on fics as well as replies. No flames, crude language, or any other offensive behavior will be tolerated. Please inform me personally of any concerns, for the abuse of reply posts will end in the feature's removal. So, please respect the authors and be responsible readers by giving them some nice reviews. ^_^

Viewing

Ok, this is just a general over-view of how to find and read stories on the forums for fans who may not choose to post, and therefore don't need to read the other sections of the help guide. HOWEVER, if you want to post replies to fics, you must be a registered user.

The Grand Forum Tour:

*You can access the main forum page using this link: (http://www.blissfulignorance.com/phpBB/index.php)

*There are many different forums. The title of each forum is in the gray headings with white lettering.

*Under each forum title, there are usually two different forum links, one a Fanfiction Showcase and one for Featured Authors. Any registered forum user may post in the Fanfiction Showcases. The other forums are for featured authors only, those who have been chosen to be archived separately on their own pages of BI. (You can find their pages via the main Blissful Ignorance site. These authors write mainly HY x RP fanfiction.)

*The forum you'll want to be visiting is the Alternatives forum. It's the fifth forum if you scroll down.

*Most of the stories will be in the "Alternatives Fanfiction Showcase." You can click the link to either the Showcase or the Featured Authors forum to see the fanfictions posted on that forum.

*Once in a forum, the posted fanfictions are to the left and each have their own separate link. Something that may be a little different is that sometimes chapters will be separated, because authors are posting new chapters as they write them.

*There is always a search option. Click the "search" link in the upper right corner of the page.

*Replies to a fic are located on additional pages after the fanfiction. Anyone may view these replies.

*When reading a fanfiction with multiple pages, on either the top or bottom left corner of the box that contains the fic, there is a little scroll bar labelled "Pages". Hit the down arrow to choose what page you'd like to jump to. (That was a tricky little bugger to find. :P)

I hope you've found this helpful. I know it's probably overly simplistic...you guys are so smart ^_^, but I know I had trouble when I first started using the forums, so you just have to bear with me. Also, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve this help guide, please let me know. Thanks and I hope you enjoy the forums. Happy posting! ^____^

Look! These really cool graphics are from the Quietsiren Design website! I would highly recommend taking a visit!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. Gundam belongs to the Sunrise/SOTSU Agency and Bandai Entertainment. This site is non-profit and for entertainment purposes only.