A Happy Assembly
| Website | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Meryton Assembly / A Happy Assembly |
| Owner/Maintainer: | Meryton Literary Society, Inc. (fannish non-profit) |
| Dates: | September of 2006 - today |
| Type: | Forums and static pages |
| Fandom: | Jane Austen |
| URL: | http://meryton.com/ |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Meryton Assembly currently encompasses a forum, A Happy Assembly or AHA, where it hosts discussion and fanworks, a static archive, The Meryton Reading Rooms, where it hosts completed fanfiction by the A Happy Assembly authors, and a link page, The Pemberley Library (PL), where it hosts downloadable fanfiction PDFs.
A Happy Assembly is a closed forum, which requires registration to read and post, and allows users to post R or MA stories, with the exceptions of "Bestiality, Pedophilia, Incest, Group Sex/Multiples, Rape Romance, S&M, or other hardcore fetishes".[1]
As of Jun 2012, the forum has 8,063 members, of which 223 are authors or intend to be (have filled out their Author Certification, a simple agreement of the rules required to post a story).[2]
As of April 2024, every page except for the TOS and privacy policy requires one to login. This may make suitability harder to gauge, since you can't read the frequently asked questions, for example.
History
The site was founded as a "story page" by CaseyC in September 2006. For a while she retained full posting powers despite inviting several authors, and then changed it to a forum in January 2007 because of the increased demand.
Meryton Literary Society, Inc. was founded in 2008 to fund and administer the site that had grown around AHA.[3]
Fanworks
The site and the organisation were founded around Jane Austen fanfiction. This is generally Pride and Prejudice het fanfic with an Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy pairing.
Nonetheless, the site allows fiction from any of the Jane Austen novels, slash and femslash,[4] original fiction,[5] and fanfiction of other non-Jane Austen works, provided the canon's author tolerates the existence of fanfiction of their work,[6] and fanart.
Review
... the most extensive collection of Jane Austen Fan Fiction is at A Happy Assembly. www.meryton.com/index.php?It is an adult mainstream site, and requires registration to verify members are over 18. In 2013 alone there were 54 new stories started (this would typically be novel-length stories posted chapter-by-chapter, usually once or twice a week) as well as 136 short stories, many by first-time writers testing out the waters in this very supportive environment. Out of the serially-posted novel-length stories, usually half a dozen end up being published each year. There are also over 500 stories in the Completed Stories forum. Headers on the stories tell if they are modern or Regency, which novel, rating, any warnings, etc.
In addition, there are forums where readers and writers discuss such things as historical details, canon, books and movies, and social topics.
Active members are very serious about their Austen, so you tend to see a high quality product. Some of the unpublished fiction on this site exceeds quality of many published JAFF books, including those by some members of certain well-known exclusive author clubs. (Suzan Lauder)[7]
References
- ^ "Erotica on AHA".
- ^ As can be seen in at the bottom of the AHA forum, and in its Author Certification section.
- ^ "The full History page in meryton.com". Archived from the original on 2016-10-27.
- ^
Erotica on AHA FAQ post, accessed last 17 Jun 2012GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered) stories are allowed but please make sure that they are labeled as such so that if it’s not the reader’s cup of tea they can pass. - ^ As shown by the existence of the Original Works posting section, which is also the place where you can post fanfiction of other canons.
- ^
Posted in the Copyright/Crossover Guidelines, accessed last 17 Jun 2012If an author openly tolerates fanfiction of their copyrighted property, we will not prohibit it. - ^ "goodreads: Suzan's Comments". Retrieved 28 January 2014.