If you don't already know this, Sikudhani Edna McCoy, daughter of Hank McCoy, is a character I created. She was created on a whim and for some reason she caught the attention of a lot of people. People that have felt inspired to write about her.
Forgive me if this sounds like I'm bragging, but her popularity blows my mind. It's astonishing to me that I actually created someone who people like enough to want to write about her. It's fanfiction about fanfiction in a sense. Mind blowing.
I try to be very fair with Siku and what I will allow. But I have had to set down some guidelines. I hope you find these guidelines fair too.
1: I (Darqstar) get credit for her creation in the disclaimer.
This is more if you plan on posting the story on ACFF, Untold, or another archive than for this site. I haven't had a problem with this so far, but I figured I'd better mention it because if I don't, that will be the time someone forgets.
2: I get to read the story before posting.
No, I'm not trying to be a hard-ass here, but I think that as her creator, I have the right to look over any story about Sikudhani or any of the X-S characters I created. Besides, I'm selfish. I want a chance to see it first!
3: The story will be archived at Shifting Sands.
No, this does not mean you can't archive it anywhere else, that's up to the writer and the archiver. But, I do want every story with Sikudhani or any of the X-S characters to be available at this archive. Since she is my character, I feel I have this right.
4: I reserve the right to decide what is "real" X-S continuity and what is "Alternative" X-S.
Sometimes people have a different vision of what should happen to Siku than I do. That doesn't mean that you're wrong, it just means that I can't use it as part of X-S continuity. For example, I will not have Siku join Gen-X. If you wanted to write a story where Siku joins Gen-X, it would go under "Alternative X-S."
Most people want their stories to be part of the regular X-S continuity. I understand, but if I didn't set some limits, it would make it very difficult for people to follow the storyline. One minute she'd be on the track team, the next she'd be off on Gen-X fighting bad guys.
I set up the Alternative X-S page as a solution to this problem. So that if someone wanted to write a story that didn't fit into my plans for the character, they could do so, without worrying that I'll squash it.
4: I reserve the right to reject any X-S story I see fit.
I promise I will only use this rule under extreme circumstances. What are extreme circumstances? Any story where I felt the character of Sikudhani was being violated. (For example... if Siku suddenly became a stupid, bubbleheaded kid that twirled her hair, chewed gum all the time and never had a thought beyond, "Boy is that guy cute!") Or if I felt that someone was destroying the relationship Siku has with the X-Men. (IFor example... if you wanted to show any of the X-Men abusing her, emotionally or physically in any way.)
If you're afraid your idea would be rejected, your best bet is to write and ask me before you write the story. As I said, I will only use this under the most extreme circumstances. There are a couple stories I've put up where I've quirked a brow over what they've done to the character, but I let it go. I will do my best to be fair and reasonable.
How to Submit an X-S story
Because Siku is my character and I insist that every X-S story is archived here, X-S stories are the only exception to the "HTML and teaser" rule. This means you do not have to do any of the HTML work, nor do you have to write a teaser. (Trust me though, if you want to, I won't refuse!)
You can send the story in the body of an e-mail or as an attachment. If you send it as an attachment, please make sure it's a txt or html document. If you don't, I might not be able to read it and I'll end up writing you back and saying, "Sorry, I couldn't read it."
How to Submit X-S Artwork
Since there are many good sites for X-Men artwork on the Web, I don't take much (if any) regular X-Men artwork.
However, since Sikudhani is my character, I do have a small gallery of X-S artwork. If you want to add to that gallery, it's pretty simple.
The artwork must be in JPG or GIF format. While I can convert many formats to GIF or JPG, sending them is difficult. I once got a BMP file that took me 45 minutes to download (No it wasn't X-S artwork, it was something completely different, not even X-Men related) To be honest, I just don't want to spend 45 minutes downloading mail.
If you don't have a program that converts to GIF or JPG, there are many available. I have a shareware version of Paint Shop Pro. For converting graphics, it's one of the easiest I've ever found. For changing graphics... well, I can't figure most of it out, but if you're just looking for something to change formats, I recommend it.
Send your X-S artwork to darqstar@shifting-sands.la.ca.us or darqstar@ici.net Whichever you want.
I've also taken the liberty of making some suggestions for people submitting artwork. You might want to check them out.
Please don't zip your artwork. I don't have a zip program, nor will I put on on my computer. It's a long, sad story I'd rather not go into.