What is a virtual season? Well, they're usually used in two cases. One, when a show is canceled but there was still lots of potential (Forever Knight has a few virtual seasons, for example), or, Two, such as in this case, when the fans have lots of great ideas they know they'll probably not see.
How is this virtual season set up? A group of core writers have regular chats and discussions to come up with the main plot, the big bad, and major points of the season. Separately and together they write fics incorporating their own ideas into the overall scheme of the season. Other writers are welcome to participate, though to a lesser extent as far as character development and plot are concerned.
What's the plot? Who's the Big Bad? The plot will be unveiled as the season unfolds. The Big Bad will be the character that has been hinted at through Molly Walker in season one, spun into our own version of what we think he/she/it would be.
Won't this take a long time to accomplish? What happens if it's not finished when the real season two begins? We'll continue! As long as we want to. Chances are our own season will be so different by the time the actual season comes about that it probably won't even be an issue.
How do the fics work together? How do they make a "season" as opposed to a verse? The (main) storylines we come up with will be separated into "episodes," with fics falling together into them. Fics in an "episode" will be expected to come out around the same, predetermined time.
How do the writers work together? Along with chats, IMs, and communicating through livejournal, the writers can work as betas, sounding boards, and even co-writers for each other. Writers aren't expected to work on every episode, though everyone is supposed to pull their weight if they want to be an official writer. One of the major goals, though, is to actively encourage team work, which sometimes means compromise, so you have to be ready to "kill your babies" if doing so will make a much better story.
Do the writers all get credit? Each person who writes a section of an episode will have their screen name appear someone on the comm--if they've only written for one episode, it will appear on that episode. If they've written for multiple episodes, it will appear in the comm profile. Writers are in no way forbidden from telling people what sections they wrote, but this way it allows us to move around the sections more and makes each episode feel like a group effort.
I have an idea, how do I get you guys to write it? sv2 will only be using ideas from the "official" writers and artists, as well as other members of the community
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
hvs2_brainstorm, all of whom are actively participating in the process of the virtual season. In order to become a member of that comm, you must be contributing to sv2. If you have an idea you really want done, you can volunteer to be a writer and write it yourself.
How are decisions made? Who's in charge? To keep some sort of order in the process,
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
mneiai will have final say over things. The system, however, is some sort of oligarchic-democracy, with most members getting a say in who joins, what happens, and who-writes-what. Plots/characters in an episode are gived out on a sort of first-come-first-serve basis, with the person who first expresses an interest usually getting to write it.
Which characters will be used? Will there be minor characters and OCs? Unlike a television show, we aren't confined to the problems of budget or attempting to keep the cast of regulars a certain size. Any and all characters that have appeared on the show or in the online comic can be used (within reason, of course), and we expect that some OCs will also appear, though never as main characters (the cast is already so big!).
What about the new characters that have been announced? We will also most likely avoid the new characters that are set for the real season two, knowing very little about them or what their going to be used for, unless someone comes up with a very good idea regarding them.
You say you're slash friendly, but most slash pairings would never happen in the actual show. What are you going to do about those and other unlikely things that people want to write? While it's true that a lot of what people would
want to write, pairing wise, may not go along with what is being written, everyone is welcome to play in this world. Writers can make AUs, alternate scenes, and codas, all under the auspices of vs2, while not actually being a part of the "canon." This includes NC-17 fics, overt slash (with one exception, listed below), and just things that didn't fit with the one the episodes worked out, but would have been awesome to see. Think of it as fanfiction off of fanfiction.
So what's this exception? It has been a well accepted fact within a lot of the slash fandom that if either Sylar or Mohinder were female, there would have been more romantic overtures between the two. Already even non-slash fans see homoerotic tendencies in the characters' interactions in the show and if this were in the future, they might even be an actual item, or have had some sexual contact. Because of this, because we aren't confined by conservative viewpoints, and because if anyone would be gay it would be the serial killer and the guy with a British accent, Sylar/Mohinder, at least in subtle ways, will be canon.
Note: Additions and whatnot may be made to the FAQ, so looking over it every once in a while would probably be a good idea.
If you have any answers that AREN'T answered here, please feel free to ask them in a comment.
If you want to write, signing up is easy! 
