FAQ

Welcome to my Frequently Asked Questions page! This is organized with general questions first, and the questions I get about whatever I have watched, am currently watching, or will be watching in the future. If you have a question you have been burning to ask me, please leave it in the comments. If I answer it, I’ll add it to the FAQ and then delete your comment. Thanks! Please note: This is for serious questions about Mark Watches only. 

Updated: 06/07/18

1) Wait, how come I can’t spoil you?

Read the Site Rules/Spoiler Policy page. The entire point of this site is to write about what it’s like to discover a fictional world without knowing anything about it.

2) But this tiny detail isn’t that bad and I need you to know it.

No, you don’t. Keep it to yourself.

3) Why does everyone seem to be speaking in gibberish? What is that?

In order to avoid spoiling me, but to continue fostering the chance for people to discuss whatever I’m writing about, we use rot13.com. It’s a site that cyphers any phrase by off-setting the letters of the alphabet by 13 letters. To use it, go to rot13.com. You can type in what you want to say, hit “Cypher,” and then paste the gibberish into your comment. Do that in reverse to decode what it is someone else said! Pretty neat, eh?

4) What time do you post your reviews?

Reviews for Mark Watches go up at 1:00 p.m. PST/PDT with any double-feature going up at 8:00 a.m. PST/PDT, and reviews for Mark Reads go up at 5:00 a.m. PST/PDT.

5) Wait, what’s Mark Reads?

That’s what got me started in all of this! Mark Reads is the other site I run where I use the same concept to explore literature, one chapter at a time, one chapter per day. You should check it out!

6) How do people add photos, bolding, italics, or strikethrough to their comments?

Here’s a gorgeous HTML guide!

7) Wait a second, how do you comment on this site?

The best thing to do is sign up for an account on IntenseDebate. This will allow you to subscribe to your favorite commenters in the community, including me, and edit your own comments.

8) How do you embed videos in a comment?

Above the comment box on the right side is a link that says “embed videos.”  This will let you embed a youtube (and only youtube) video in your comment.  Simply click the link, paste the URL in the resulting pop-up box, and press “embed video.” Using the embed html that youtube provides will not work; this is the only way to embed videos.

There are limitations!  You can only embed videos from youtube, you can only embed 1 video per comment (if you try to add more each video will simply be a repeat of the first video), and if you post a comment with a video enbed then edit the comment the embed usually gets screwed up and you’ll have to re-post the video to get it working again.

Note: The URL must start with “http://” and “not https://”. Just delete that ‘s’ if it’s giving you trouble.  Also, intensedebate doesn’t support embeds using the shortened youtube URLs.  Make sure the URL starts with “http://www.youtube.com/watch”.

9) I can only post really short comments but I see other people posting much longer comments. What’s going on?

The short comment limit is probably because you’re using Internet Explorer.  Using a different internet browser to comment should fix the problem.

10) What are liveblogs and how do I participate?

Liveblog posts are posts where people watch something in real time and post comments of their reactions as they watch. Everyone’s welcome to participate: just follow the directions on the post and comment! Liveblog posts are posted a couple days to a couple hours before an episode starts airing in the first timezone aired.  Alternately, community watch/rewatches are scheduled such that everyone is directed to start their video at the exact same time so everybody’s in sync.

11) Do you even comment?

Yes, I do! This is my IntenseDebate profile. If you sign up for IntenseDebate, you can choose to “follow” me and you’ll be able to know whenever I comment. I generally wait a few hours after a post has gone up so that my moderators can weed out any spoilers first.

12) You have moderators?

Yes! Anyone who posts with a blue bar in their username is a moderator! Say hello! These brilliant human beings volunteer their time to keep the Mark Does Stuff sites free of spoilers and wankery. THANK THEM.

The following users are moderators, and this links to their profile on IntenseDebate.

fauxkaren
echinodermata
notemily
psycicflower
monkeybutter
misterbernie
cait0716
hpfish13
knut_knut
robin_comments
Danny_SAP
NB2000
affableevil
nanceoir
Deanna
arctic_hare
jenskiss
RedHeadedGirl
ppyajunebug
ScarlettMi
Aurora_Belle

13) Can I be a moderator?

To be frank, probably not. All of the mods are hand-picked by myself and the current moderation staff. There is no application process. Just be awesome and wonderful!

14) Mark, you got a detail wrong about x character or y scene! Can I correct you?

Sometimes. This is a tough one to judge because sometimes, I do need to be corrected if I am flat-out wrong. You know, if I’m spelling a name wrong, or calling someone by the wrong name. But at the same time, half the appeal of this place is to watch me foolishly stumble through a fictional world. So utilize extreme caution if you are going to correct me. Are you using information from the future or from fandom meta that I won’t have at the time? Or is it a correction involving something that’s a mistake? Whatever you do, please be careful, and please accept that if my moderators delete your comment, it’s for a good reason.

15) I noticed you have reviewed shows that are still going to air future episodes, like Sherlock, Doctor Who, and Supernatural. Will you continue reviews when those shows have new episodes?

I will do my best to catch up with them and post about them in some form; however, it may be delayed based on how busy I am!

16) Will you consider watching _________?

I’ll consider doing anything for Mark Watches. You can suggest a series, miniseries, or single movie on my Confirmed Shows page!

17) Can I email you?

Yes! markreadsandwatches [at] gmail [dot] com. My assistant will assist you from there!

18) Can I stalk you on the Internet? 

Here are the acceptable ways to follow me on the Internet:

Twitter: @markdoesstuff
Tumblr: http://markdoesstuff.tumblr.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/markdoesstuff
Instagram: @markdoesstuff

19) Hey Mark! I’m watching right along with you. Can I post my own theories about what’s going on?

Absolutely! However, sometimes people don’t know you are doing this, and it creates a confusing situation because other people think you’re actually saying what’s going to happen. So, if you’d like to post your own theories, you must start your own comment off with THEORIES ABOUND. All speculation in a comment MUST start off with this to avoid confusion and so others can skip your comment if they don’t want to read theories.

20) Why do people keep talking about nuns?

In rot13, “hahahahaha” gets turned into “ununununun” so it looks like a bunch of nuns.

21) Do I have to cypher spoilers for shows or books that you have no plans to watch or read? 

Generally, yes. It’s courtesy for others. I don’t want anyone else to get spoiled! So please be generous to your fellow posters, and please cypher all spoilers with warnings for what they spoil.

22) How can I support you? 

There are a few ways you can support me and help keep Mark Does Stuff running! All methods are detailed here.

The easiest way, however: I am now running a Patreon. For as low as $1 per month, you can support me. There are four reward tiers, which offer things like a private blog, advance preview of all reviews, monthly Google Hangouts, and the privilege of commissioning EXTRA STUFF.

23) So what are you reading/watching next?

At any time, please check the Master Schedule to see what projects I’m doing and what post is scheduled for what day. This will generally include a few future projects, but if not, that means I haven’t figured out what is next! I don’t really have an ordered list of projects. I just sort of pick based on feedback and what little I know about the series.

24) How do I commission a video from you and how do I find out what has already been commissioned?

You can purchase a video here!  That page also has a list of claimed videos, which is kept up-to-date as people request new videos.

25) So what happened to the Game of Thrones liveblogs? Are you still going to write about the episodes?

This was a case of me agreeing to do something and misjudging how much time I’d have on tour. I never got to them because I was traveling!

26) Will you be reading the Buffy/Angel comics, and if so, in what order?

I have no plans to do any more of them.

27) I noticed that your Vimeo videos are missing, and sometimes, the links to download your videos are dead. What gives?

Due to constant copyright issues, my Vimeo account was deleted. I’m still in the process of recovering as many of the old videos as possible. Right now, all my old videos that I have are archived on MarkDoesStuff.com, and you can purchase them for $0.99 each! There are discounts if you buy an entire season at once.

Given that it is extremely expensive to host videos that I allow folks to download for free (I am nearing $400 a month in bandwidth/storage), video commissions will now cost $0.99 each to download. Here is a wonderful post explaining the new policy as well how you can get free videos and get discounts if you want to continue watching them.

28) What are you doing next? 

Check the stickied post on either site; it almost always announces what is next on the schedule.

29) Can I physically mail you something?

Sure! My office address is:

WeWork
c/o Mark Does Stuff

8 W 126th Street
New York, NY 10027

22 Responses to FAQ

  1. echinodermata says:

    Ooh, I have another general Q: Sometimes your banners change – is there a way to see all the past banners?

  2. KORRA KORRA KORRA KORRA KORRA KORRA KORRA.

    Also, Korra.

  3. queenelizthe3rd says:

    I have a question too– how do you decide what shows you will do next? I don't think it's the same as the order in which they're posted in the "Confirmed" list, right?

  4. nanceoir says:

    Hey, Mark, since you're encouraging people to sign up for IntenseDebate accounts ('cause they're fun!), maybe you could mention somewhere about the IntenseDebate profile being a handy place to put one's current MarkDoesStuff status — like "Buffy: watching with Mark" or "LotR: Read it" or something. It's a handy way to keep track of who's watching (or reading, if this were MR) something for the first time.

    Also? YAY, FAQ!

  5. Ida says:

    I'm not entirely sure if this is directly related to Watches, but I don't know where else to post it, so here goes: I notice we are not allowed to use the word "crazy" and "insane". Fine by me; your site, your rules, etc. And I can also understand that it is not accepted to use those words to describe other commenters, characters, and so on, which I support. I'm just wondering if it's okay to use them in a wider, more abstract sense – i.e "That scene in American Gods where a guy gets eaten by a vagina is insane!" or "Bella Swan's constant whining drives me crazy!", or are they forbidden too?

    I'm just asking because I don't want to make any mistakes, but I have a tendency to use those expressions sometimes and if I'm not allowed, I want to know it so I don't end up getting banned for doing it.

    • echinodermata says:

      That is against the rules. Please see these two posts: On the ubiquitous use of "crazy" and Ableist Word Profile on "Crazy".

      They describe why such usage is still considered harmful.

      • Ida says:

        Okay. Wow, I had no idea it was considered that harmful, and now I feel bad. I never meant to actually hurt someone; I did not mean those words as degrading to people with mental illnesses, but in a more general sense, as, you know, a figure of speech. I do have mental issues of my own, but I've personally never found those expressions offensive. I guess I should learn that not everybody feels like me. If I've offended anyone, I really apologize.

        • MemoBookworm says:

          It would probably be a good thing for Mark to do a FAQ on ableism and/or language that is inappropriate on this site anyway.

  6. MemoBookworm says:

    Hey are you going to do the Avatar:The Last Airbender movie?

  7. geo_hof says:

    i cant see the new buffy posts past lovers walk with out searching through google

  8. Diana says:

    I have a question regarding Korra, actually. Are you waiting for the episodes to air on T.V (meaning April 14th) to review them? Or will you watch them online/leaked if the opportunity arises?

  9. Morgangirlofthefuture says:

    Hey I haven’t been able to find this anywhere on the site but, where do the live blogs take place?

  10. Mabe rry89 says:

    It would probably be a good thing for Mark to do a FAQ on ableism and/or language that is inappropriate on this site anyway. Costa Rica bachelor party

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