Animation Source Forums

Hello.

Recently, Steet added the possibility to choose which characters (Balto, your own, or your favorites) appear in your fanfics. Since the system was just put in place, no one's fanfics are marked. You must do this yourself to avoid this pesky notice:


**Note that the 11 is just my own example.

The fix to this is easy. Steet just recently added the ability to mark which characters are in your fanfics, and since that ability was not there before, no fanfic has the marks.

All you have to do is this:
1) Click "Send to the site"
2) Click "Fanfiction"
3) Click "Continue" on the warning screen
4) Select your submitted fanfic from the pull-down list
5) Click "Modify the fanfic information"
6) Select which characters your fanfic contains by clicking "Choose"
***A Note: In addition to Balto characters, you may also choose from your own previously-created characters, your favorite characters, and even create your own right from the pop-up.

Repeat as often as necessary.

If anyone has questions, let me know.


-LWf

I must report, to my regret, that redwolf03's characters are not registered, and she does not seem to be active on the site much if at all these days. Will her supporting comments on the stories of mine that used them suffice as validation of my right to have them in my fics?

Also, what constitutes having a character in the story? Do they have to actually make a physical appearance, or could mention of them as if they were off-screen (like in my story Wilderness Hunt where Luna mentions that Balto can't go out to negotiate with the wolves because of his age and health) qualify?

I've been trying to create my fan characters, but since I haven't made many yet, it's kind of hard. The three I've submitted have not respected the rules (wich I admit are my fault), but when I tried to modify them, it wouldn't let me. So now I'm having to create duplicates of my own characters, which is really sucky. And all for my fanfics.

Try deleting them and re-making them, or pm a character mod and see if they'll delete them for you.

This is a bit tricky. My understanding is that the system was put in place to more easily verify that a fanfic is or isn't a Balto-related fanfic (has Balto characters in it). Of course, there is the possibility - however small - that some users may mark Balto characters in a fanfic that they make no appearance in. But, we'll still be reading through the fanfics, so that shouldn't be a problem.

As far as having a character in your story, I would say that in order to make this easier, only mark characters who physically appear in your story. Otherwise, users might wonder why a story that mentions Balto and Jenna (note: mentions) is not accepted. In that case, our system would seem to contradict the rules.

Now, as far as other members' characters, it's still important to ask permission to use them, but as far as marking them in fanfics, this is at your own discretion. While I am personally excited to create pages for some of my more prominent characters, other members may not be so excited. In short, if you don't want to mark non-Balto characters in your fanfic, you don't have to, but be sure to ask for other members' permission before using their characters in your stories.


Although that was a bit long-winded, I hope I answered your questions.

-LWf

Well, I wasn't talking about official Balto characters (although as long as we're on the subject, I noticed that Doc and Morse do not have profiles and thus cannot be registered in fanfics. What I meant was that, as you know, several of my fanfics include characters by another author; an author who never registered her characters and is now inactive as pertains to the site. Sinc the characters have no profiles, I cannot obtain by-the-book authorization to include them. Do redwolf03's comments on said fanfics approving my use of her characters therein count as authorization? In other words, is her spoken approval good enough in the absence of "paperwork?"

As for defining a character's presence, that helps a bit, although I think it seems rather constrictive to define a Balto-related fanfic as one featuring Balto characters directly and physically. I would think, from a logical approach, that those incorporating Balto as a historic canon would qualify too, especially if, say, they dealt with his descendants.

Still, I suppose one must draw the line somewhere, and it's best not to have the apple fall too far from the tree.

P.S. You should know that although Aleu does not appear directly in one of my fanfics (namely "Wilderness Hunt Part 2), I have her listed there partly because I put her down before you answered and partly because I could not register Doc, who does appear directly.

I suppose I wasn't clear enough, so let me re-phrase myself.

If you're using another user's characters and have gotten their permission to do so, it's okay if you don't mark them in your fanfic. Just put a little disclaimer in the story noting who the characters belong to.

Also: Doc and Morse don't have profiles? This must be dealt with, and swiftly!

And thank you for understanding my position on Balto-related fanfics. Of course, I understand your reasoning behind including stories that deal with his descendants. That makes sense. For anyone in this position, just mention in your fanfic summary that these are the children/grandchildren/great-grand children (etc...) of Balto or something along those lines. Please also remember that the rules allow for stories about dogs or wolves with no connection to Balto as long as your fanfic gallery contains four (4) Balto-related stories.


As always, any questions may be posted here or PMed directly to me.
Have a nice day.

OK, thanks. I figured that's how it would be, but with the way red tape can get sometimes I'm sure you can see why I wanted to be sure.

Yes, I agree. I was surprised to see them overlooked.

Alright, I'll do that. I'm guessing you have some way of noting a fanfic as Balto-related even if it's not registered as having Balto characters in it. But when I was registering them, the site said 1/4 of my fanfics had to have them. So is it 4, or 1/4?

Thank you very much for your help. I will certainly try to have a good day.

Ah, that's supposed to be a set number: 4. The 1 in front of it means that you have 1 out of the required 4 Balto-related fanfics.

As for marking Non-Balto related fics, that's a good question. I'm not certain we have a way of doing that. In the case that we do not, I'll likely amend my marking suggestions above.

Odd. It kept telling me that even when I got up to six or higher.

Take your time. I know the system is new, and I can only imagine how much work it takes to get all the logistics figured out.

1. Go through the process you normally would to modify a fanfic on the site.

2. When you get to the list of options for what to edit about it, click "Modify the fanfic information."

3. Below "Rating," you'll find "Characters." Click "Choose," next to that.

4. Select a character that appears in your story, and repeat step 3 as needed for more characters.

I finally got mine to work. Hurray!

Any time.