The Writer's Guidelines for the Four Corners Chronicles Virtual Seasons
With heartfelt thanks to Cindy Combs, Wolfpup and everyone from Black Panther Production for allowing us to base our rules on theirs! We would also like to thank everyone at Black Panther Productions and at Faux Paw Productions for all their help in creating this VS.
1. All stories must follow The Magnificent Seven canon, as established during the two seasons aired.
2. These seasons are about the 'Magnificent SEVEN'. All seven should be in every episode. And must have significant screen time. That doesn't mean that the episode cannot focus on one or two of the characters but it does mean that the appearances of the others have to be significant to the plot or to a subplot.
3. All stories must be Gen and have an R or lower rating! No smut/slash/gratuitous violence.
4. Writers also must follow vanon as established by the Board and in previous episodes of the current season.
5. No author may kill off, maim, give an extended or life-threatening illness (i.e. one that takes more than three weeks to completely recover), or injuries that would leave visible scars to a regular character without the express permission of the Board.
6. Although smarm is a big part of M7 fanfic, the committee is trying to keep the show as close to canon as possible. Hurt/comfort is permitted but the committee asks that smarm be kept to a bare minimum. There is a fine line between comfort and smarm and we will try our best to delineate between the two and hope that the writers will also.
7. Please, no Mary Sue stories.
8. Lists of Regular Characters, Guest Characters from the two seasons, and Original Characters previously created by 4CC authors will be posted. Please use the spelling as set.
9. Please, no crossovers. Our network doesn't contain any other shows!
10. Anyone who wishes to use an Original Character created by another author, (not on the Regular Character or Guest Character lists) must have permission from the original author who created that character.
11. 4CC was founded by C/M shippers so Mary bashing will NOT be tolerated. The first instance of bashing this character will result in a 48-hour removal from the list. The second instance of bashing will result in permanent removal from the list. We do not wish to remove anyone, so please, don't bash.
12. All PKP writers, will acknowledge all relationships, whether romantic or familial. In other words, the Cartwright Principle will not be used in these seasons. PKP has no problem with OFCs or OMCs carrying over through a few episodes, but we ask that authors keep these OCs *short-lived* (appears in a maximum of 3 episodes) if they are of a romantic nature.
13. Mary Travis, Inez Rosillos, Casey Wells, Maude Standish and Raine: these five women are set as canon, ergo, they cannot be ignored. . .especially in conjunction with the Seven. For example, Maude Standish, while in no way an ideal mother, does what she feels is best for her son. Also, Casey and JD are a couple. . ..they stay that way. Same goes for Nathan and Rain. As for Chris Larabee and Mary Travis, PKP plans to go with a storyline in which Mary and Chris are courting. So once again, they're a couple, they stay that way. As for Inez, at this time she is a single gal. She may flirt with any male of choice but please, no permanent relationships as of yet. This may change in the future.
14. All stories must be less than 50 pages and longer than 20. Longer stories must get permission from the Board to become a two parter.
15. Authors must meet deadlines, or risk being dropped from the schedule. If a problem comes up that may force you to miss your deadline, please let one of the supervising editors know at least two weeks ahead of your deadline and arrangements will be made. While episodes may be rescheduled in certain circumstances...illness, computer problems etc., the more time we are given, the more likely you will stay on the schedule.
16. ALL writers are required to be a member of the PKP writer's list. If you have a problem with mailing lists, please let us know and we will work it out.
17. All stories accepted as 4CC episodes will be posted at the 4CC site exclusively until the start of the following season or four months after the finale, whichever comes first. After that time, the writer may have the story posted on an additional site of his/her choosing. Links from other websites to the 4CC site are more than welcome at any time.
If you are willing to follow the rules, please contact us at and we will sign you up for the 4CC writer's group. We will post pertinent information (running story lines, new canon, and story suggestions) to the list for all authors. We will try to keep these posts to a minimum, so not to overload anyone's email.
Once you are signed up, you may submit a story synopsis to the committee. The committee will either: 1) grant permission and designate an editor and a beta reader and a deadline for first draft completion, 2) return with suggestions and ask for resubmission (for instance, perhaps something in your story doesn't match with a previously accepted story or newly developed 4CC canon), or 3) rejection with reasons why (violates rules, villain being used by another story already accepted, etc.). Please do not be scared off by this process - we plan to be very lenient, and we want to work with you!
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