usingaphkink

So, you’ve come across the Hetalia Kink Meme. Wonderful! The meme is an awesome place with many interesting and creative stories to suit just about any taste. However, if you’ve never visited a kink meme before, it can be a little confusing. Not to worry! This handy guide will tell you everything you need to know.

Before we begin using the meme, here are a couple useful words:

Request- a request is an idea that someone posts for a fic or a piece of art they’d like to see. Maybe I’d really like to read a story about Rome, Germania, and a goat, but I’m not very good at writing and just don’t feel that I’d be able to keep the goat in character. I can post a request asking for a story about Rome, Germania and a goat, and if I’m lucky, another person will write it and post it for me to read.

Fill - a fill is when someone looks at a request and writes a story or draws a picture to fulfill that request.

“Great!” you say, “I’ve thought of a bazillion requests already! Let’s do this!”

Whoooa, slow down there, partner. You may have a shiny new vocabulary, but before you start posting willy-nilly, there are some other things you need to know.

First off, this isn’t the Wild West. There are rules for using the kink meme, and if you don’t follow them, your requests or fills might be deleted (the horror!) So HERE THEY ARE. Take a good long look and familiarize yourself with them. Done? Great! Let’s get to posting.

Posting a Request
Filling a Request

So, you’ve thought of a totally awesome idea and you just can’t wait for someone to write it. Here’s what you do:

1.Find the current part of the Kink Meme This will be linked from the front page of the meme’s journal, in big bold letters that say ‘CURRENT PART.’ This is the part where new requests get posted - if you post anywhere else, it probably won’t be seen, and if it is seen, it will be deleted.

2. Check for a request freeze So, you’ve found the current part. Excellent! Now, take a good look around. Do you see anything that says ‘Request Freeze’?

If yes - I hate to break it to you, but you’re not going to be able to post your request right now. A ‘request freeze’ means that new requests are NOT allowed at the moment. After every 5 pages of requests, the mods put up a request freeze until 50 new fills are written. This way, the meme doesn’t get overwhelmed by requests, and the request/fill numbers are kept fairly balanced. Don’t worry, though - requests will open up again soon, so just keep checking! In the meantime, check the meme and see if there are any requests you’d like to fill - it’s fun, and it helps the request freeze end sooner!

If no - Lucky you! You get to post a request. Go on to step 3!

3. Posting your request Most things in the meme are done through comments. So, click on ‘leave a comment’ to get started. Don’t just start typing though - there’s a format you need to follow!

The subject line - the subject line needs to have the pairing or characters you’re requesting, and the kink or prompt you’re looking for. If I wanted a story about Rome, Germania, and a goat, my subject line would need to have those words in it. ‘Rome/Germania - goats’, ‘Rome + Germania - they find a goat,’ ‘Rome/Germania - raising a goat’ would all be acceptable subject lines.

The message - this is where you write your request. It should briefly elaborate on the things you put in the subject line. Keep it under 200 words, and keep it on topic! If your request involves a lot of historical background or requires you to give definitions for words, you can also post that and it won’t count for the limit. Try to keep it as brief as you can, though!

Bonuses - you might have noticed that some people add ‘bonuses’ to their requests. Bonuses are things that you’d kind of like to see in a fill, but that aren’t necessary. Say you want a story about Rome, Germania, and a goat. You’d like ANY story involving them, but you’d be extra-happy if it had some Rome/Germania smut going on, too. You can put ‘bonus: smut’ at the end of your request to let potential fillers know that. You can have up to 3 bonuses, and they don’t count toward your word limit. Got it? Good!

If this is confusing, don’t worry! At the beginning of every kink meme part there’s an example post that shows how a request should look.

Now, before you hit ‘post,’ do yourself a favor and double-check.

Characters/pairings and kink or prompt in the subject line?

Check.

Brief, on-topic request in the message body, with no more than 3 bonuses?

Check.

Are you posting anonymously? Wait...what?

The Hetalia Kink Meme is an anonymous meme. That means that everybody who posts a request or a fill needs to remain anonymous. If you don’t post anonymously, your post will be deleted. (Oh noes!) To post anonymously, click on ‘more options’ under the comment box, then click the little arrow next to your icon and select ‘anonymous.’ Voila! You are now anonymous, and ready to post.


4. Some other notes

-If you post a request, try fill a request! It’s the polite thing to do, it keeps the numbers even, and it keeps the meme moving quickly.

-Try not to flood the meme with requests. I know, I know, you have a bunch of awesome ideas, but there are other people who’ve got ideas too. Instead, why don’t you post one now, and then post another one next time? To kill time, you could write a fill for another request. :3

-If someone fills your request, leave a comment! They took the time to make something just for you, so let them know it’s appreciated. (And while you’re at it, if you read and enjoy other fills, comment on those, too - fillers like to know that people are enjoying their work!)

So, now you know how to post a request, but maybe you’re just so cool that you want to know how to fill requests, too….

Filling a request

This can seem a little daunting, but don’t worry, it’s quite simple. Here’s how to fill a request:

1. Find a request that you’d like to fill You might notice that there are parts of the kink meme besides the current part. These also have plenty of requests that haven’t been filled yet, so if you’re in a writing mood, take a look through those too. You’ll probably find one or two (or ten!) prompts that get those creative wheels turning. Write your fill in whatever format you prefer (word processing program, pen and paper, etc.)

Before you go on to Step 2 make sure that you know the following:

-What part of the meme (Part 1, part 5, part 20) did your request come from?
-The URL of your request. To get this, click the little link that says ‘thread’ at the bottom of the comment where your request was posted, then copy the URL of the page it takes you to.

2. Posting your fill Is your request from the current part of the kink meme?

If yes Great! Find the comment with the request in it, and click ‘reply’ to reply to that comment. Put your title in the subject line, and your fill in the body of the comment. Make sure that you’re posting anonymously (see the ‘Posting a Request’ section, step 3, if you need to know how) and then post! Go on to the next step of this guide.

*Please note that LJ has a “feature” where comments are limited to 4500 characters, so if your fill is longer, you’ll need to use multiple comments. When you do this, it can be helpful to put a note in the subject line - for example ‘Rome and Germania Meet a Goat (part 1/4)’ This helps readers keep track.

If no - this is a little trickier, but don’t worry, you can handle it! Look at the main page of the kink meme. There should be a link to something called ‘Past Part Fills.’ Click it. This is where you’ll be posting.

-Click ‘leave a comment’ to start posting your fill.
-Your subject line should include the part of the Kink Meme that your request came from, the characters/pairings in that request, and the prompt or kink, e.g. ‘[Part 1] Rome/Germania - goats.’
-Post a link to the original request in the body of the comment, then post your fill. Some people prefer instead to make one comment with the link to the request and the content of that request, and then reply to that comment with their fill, so that readers can easily read the original request.
-LJ has a character limit of 4500 for comments posted, so you may need to split your fill into several comments. When you do this, it’s helpful to put a note in the subject line, e.g. ‘[Part 1] Rome/Germania - goats (part 1/4)’ so readers know.
-Make sure to remain anonymous (It’s covered in ‘posting a request’ step 3)

Done? Awesome! But we’re not quite through with the meme yet. Now it’s time for:

3. Posting on the fills list Your fill is awesome! Your fill is great! But, if you don’t post a link to it on the fills list, no one will see it. Here’s what you do:

Click on the fills list, and click leave a comment (and make sure you’re anonymous!) You’re not going to be posting your fill here, just a link to where it can be found.

The subject line should have the part of the meme the request came from, the names of the characters in the request, and the kink or prompt, e.g. ‘[Part 1] Rome/Germania - goats.’

The body of the comment should have two links - a link to the original request, and a link to your fill. Even if your fill is a direct reply to the request, it’s best to provide a link directly to it - that way, if someone writes another fill for it later, there won’t be any confusion.

Congratulations, you’ve posted a fill!

4. If your fill is not complete So, you found a really awesome request, but then you started writing, and it just got longer, and longer, and longer…

If you’re writing a fill that’s going to end up being longer than a comment or two, you don’t have to finish it right away and post it all at once. You can post it over time, just like posting chapters for a fanfic. There’s a couple things to be aware of when you do this:

In your subject line put a note, such as (part 1/4) or (part 1/?)

When you post an update you’re also going to post on the fills list. It’s just like posting a fill, but you’ll also put UPDATE in the subject line. Also, you need to check for two things:

Have you already posted an update today? If so, don’t make a new comment about your update - reply to your previous post instead.

Do you already have a post for this fill on the most recent page of the list? If you do, don’t make a new comment about your update - reply to your previous post instead.

Basically, only post once per page and once per day. It keeps the list from getting clogged up.

5. Other important information

This is covered in the kink meme’s rules list, but it’s very important, so I’ll put it again here. If your fill includes triggery content (this includes, but isn’t limited to, shota, noncon, dubcon, permanent character death, etc.) you need to post a warning! This warning should go both at the top of your fill, and in your post on the fills list. Just write ‘Warning: (the thing you’re warning for.)’ That way, people who do not want to read these things are able to steer clear of them.

If there’s a prompt you really like, but it’s already got a fill, don’t worry! You’re absolutely allowed to write a second one - and the original requester would probably love it if you did!

Happy writing!

What to do if you make a mistake

So, you've got your request or fill all written up, and it's formatted properly, but then you click 'post' and you realize - you've posted in the wrong spot!

Or maybe one of your HTML tags is borked.

Or maybe you messed up copying and pasting and your fill now cuts off in the middle.

Not to worry! That's what the MOD POST is for. Leave a comment there with a description of what happened and a link to the post, and as soon as they can, the mods will fix it for you - usually, this means deleting the post with the mistake.

What to do if you see someone else has made a mistake

So, happy with your newfound knowledge of How the Meme Works, you're browsing, and browsing, and... wait a second! Someone's posted a new request - but we're in a request freeze! Those dastardly... dastards! Such injustice cannot be allowed to stand!

Cool your jets, hotshot.

If you see this, or any kind of rule-breaking (de-anoning, starting flame wars because clearly Rome/Goat is the ONLY acceptable Rome pairing and those Rome/Germania people are just icky) just go to the handy Mod Post linked above and report it with a description of the problem and a link. They'll fix it.

You may be tempted to post a reply to the rule-breaker, letting them know just how much of a scofflaw they are. Instead of doing that, do the following:

-Report it on the Mod Post.
-Raise your preferred hand to shoulder height
-Lower it gently onto your shoulder
-Give yourself a nice pat on the back, because you know how to follow the rules

Isn't that more satisfying?

In all seriousness, it's the mods' job to correct rule-breakers, and you're not a mod. Also, the Kink Meme is limited on comment space, and when 10 people reply to a post with 'We're in a request freeze! You can't post now!' it takes up space that could have been used on requests or fills, which are way more fun to read.


In short, when you see rule-breaking, just take a deep breath and report it to the mods. Problem solved!