It is perfectly fine to make a new thread for an unrelated story. Just don't make every update to one story have it's own thread, or the forums will get flooded...

So go right in ahead, roll.

Another question:

To what extent can alcohol be featured in a story (Within PG-13 guidelines, of course)? I've got some ideas rattling in my head, but I'm worried I might be trying to stretch the guidelines a bit too much.

Pirates of the Caribbean would be a good guide for that, I think. Nothing too violent involving drunken people, but actual imbibing? Use Orange soda and all will be well. Alcohol is okay as long as you aren't saying it is the best thing in the world. You know, no reverse after school specials.XD

Question: how much can we mention Pop culture?

Presumably as much as you want, as long as you're not breaking any other rules in doing so.
Probably won't make a great story if you slather references everywhere for the sake of having them of course, but don't feel like you have to pretend pop culture doesn't exist. There's no rule specifically against it.

I Understand

though feel free to add in Lester and have him talk about obscure anime. and possibly insult the more popular anime... he's kind of an anime hipster.

Who said anything about anime?
I might as well now that you mentioned it.

So... spin offs count as Fan Fiction as long as they don't get published right?
... right?

Pretty much. If you want to do an actual spin off, I'd ask Rick, but as long as you are just doing a little something for fun, it should be okay. There have been a few of them already, comic wise.

Is it alright to post a story that isnt fanfiction?

That would go in Media Median, I already did one, and that's what Brent said.

thanks a lot man, i was really confused there

Sure

Can we use cuss words? In the sense of censoring like Rick did, I see no reason not to.

you can use asterisks to replace every letter of a bad word or you can use other words to replace them.

using the (censored) tab works better, and it's more fun to recourse to synonyms and periphrases

'Son of a charming young woman' is a perrennial favorite! x3 Or just replace the offending word with 'cuss'. Cuss him, cuss you, cussing cussers, cusshole... Erm.

... Actually that last one still sounds sort of dirty. Tread lightly... The rest, though, work pretty well. I hope that helps.

Not to mention 'I swear to dog...'
King rulez!

Before doing so, ask yourself this.

-Does the usage of the word fit?

-Are you doing it for shock value or for story reasons?

What Diss said.

Can you put a story that's not related to Housepets in this section

If you mean a story that has no relation to Babylon Gardens or Rick's characters but still takes place in the same universe (One that Babylon Gardens still exists in), then yes you can.

But if it holds no relation to the comic or Rick's universe, no you can't. I believe you would have to post that in the Media Median section.

what he said.

The Fan Projects section is indeed for HP! Universe stories. Like JeffCVT said, Media Median is for all non HP stories, as well as a lot of other interesting items. Some stories are a little hard to tell. Maybe PM a mod and ask about it, just the idea or synopsis or something?

Wow, I never knew there were so many rule to writing a Fan Fiction...

Ah, I'm new here and I would like to take a go at writing a HP! fan fiction, but I am a little worried about accidentally breaking one of these said rules. I do not believe my ideas would, but still, I would hate to anger Rick because I did something wrong without knowing it.

So I have few questions:

1.) Does the story have to coherently follow the plot already set in motion? i.e. Could it pick up at different point in time from where the arch is currently, like before Pete met Grape and Peanut? Or beyond what is currently happening by several months?

2.) If any couples are stated, must they stay canon? i.e. Max is currently dating Grape as we all know, so could an event in the fan fiction cause them to break-up?

3.) What are the rules on introducing a OC, original character, if any? i.e. Could a new pet or celestial creature was to be introduced?

4.) As far as action is concerned, what is the limit, if any?

I would be very grateful to have these question answered by anyone. I thank you for your time in reading this. ^^

1. No, the story doesn't have to coherently follow the plot.

2. Couples can be whatever you want, so long as it's nothing disturbing.

3. OC's are fine to have in your fan fiction. It's fan fiction, not story canon, you don't have to worry about that. This applies for question one as well.

4. This one is a bit tougher, but as long as you don't get too graphic with it, it should be fine.

I might not be 100% accurate with the fourth one, but I believe I'm at least close.

Thank you Leafolawl for clearing most of that up for me. ^^

As far as couples go, I'm a simple Peanut and Grape fan, so yeah.

Leaf is correct on all four counts.

This has me wondering why I'm not writing fan-fiction myself...

All counts are right with what Leaf said, pretty much. Just have fun with it, stay within PG, sometimes PG-13, and you will do just fine. Cannot wait to see what you come up with!

Hi everyone,

First off, this is my first post to the forums, though I've been following the comic since last November. So...hi everyone! I'm a writer of various genres of stories (some fantasy, some sci fi, some comedy, I've been experimenting with horror, etc.), and I'm looking forward to putting my Housepets story (which I've had the idea for since last April) on the forum. Feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

Now then, getting down to business...

I've seen a lot of conflicting information regarding Housepets 3.0. At first, I thought it was solely a design change, but the more I read, it sounds as though it may reboot the story, somewhat. The reason for my concern is that depending on how much the world of Housepets changes, it may have a drastic effect on the story I'm writing. I'm welcoming the new change with open arms, of course, but 2 questions linger.

1. Considering Housepets 3.0, does anyone have any idea what/if changes, or at least the severity of the changes?

2. Should I not be concerned if my story is in the "2.0"-verse, or should I update it to 3.0?

I appreciate any help in this matter, and I offer my thanks in advance.

-Lucid_Dragon

This is more for the Comic than Fan Projects, but to answer at least one of your questions, you can write it in any version you want as an alternate timeline story. A few fics have done alternate timelines.

I do not know exactly what will come of 3.0, but I do know it will be a reboot of sorts and the story will change somewhat, but Rick has said, nothing will be retconned or changed a lot.

Also, if you want to say hello, there is a nice thread in Not The Comic where you can introduce yourself!

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=964

I see...well, I'm sure there'd be some differences in my story from the main canon (though I did my best to stay as close as I could), but that's good to know. Thanks!

Regarding 3.0, that's good to know. Granted, I figured it wouldn't be Earth-shattering, but I figured I'd ask in case it was. Looks like Kara and her crew's story are going to be just fine, 3.0 or otherwise.

Anyways, I'm off to introduce myself. Thanks again, Copper!

-Lucid_Dragon

'Tis my job! No thanks necessary Citizen! *flies heroically away*

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...

Can someone please tell me the differences between a spin-off and a fan fiction? I'm sorry if it sounds stupid. But... I just really don't know.

Are y'all sure that "PG" is what you mean?

The rules say PG-13 though I think we take it in a scaled back manner. Basically, try to aim for PG, but in the balance between keeping the rating and writing a good story it's fine to go to PG-13. I think Pirates of the Caribbean was given as a good example.

According to Wikipedia, a spin-off is taking the original story and changing to focus (to a specific character, theme or event). In this way, you could possibly consider all fanfiction to be spin-offs.