Random Raves 49: Cats Can Have Little a Salami

[Valka D'Ur]

My grandmother used to serve that. I had an on/off liking for it, as it was actually not bad if you cut it up into cubes and mix it with macaroni (mind you, almost anything goes okay with macaroni). But by itself, it wasn't that appealing.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'm done!!!

I have every single one of my fics marked with not only Complete/In-Progress/Abandoned, but also a 'last updated' date.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

*cough* Perhaps now would be the time to review the rules on spam.

Rule number one, do not eat it plain. @Valka D'Ur is on track though. Cubed up, browned in butter, and thrown into mac&cheese it's great.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'm done!!!

I have every single one of my fics marked with not only Complete/In-Progress/Abandoned, but also a 'last updated' date.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Lemme get this straight @aimeeandbeatles ...you have actually read 883 works of fanfiction?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I read 698 of them, though I'm almost finished my 699th

I've been collecting them over the span of 8 years though. Considering that most of them are one-chapter fics, it's not really as much as it seems.

 

[CKS]

Lemme get this straight @aimeeandbeatles ...you have actually read 883 works of fanfiction?

You write that like it is hard to believe. I probably read that much or more each year. (It works well with my current second job of driving kids to activities and waiting around for them to get finished.) Cataloging it is impressive, though, and writing some fanfiction is even more impressive. I'm too lazy to do either of those.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

You write that like it is hard to believe. I probably read that much or more each year. (It works will with my current second job of driving kids to activities and waiting around for them to get finished.) Cataloging it is impressive, though, and writing some fanfiction is even more impressive. I'm too lazy to do either of those.

My career reading fanfiction was...short. I had pretty close to no luck at all finding anything that wasn't awful except for stuff that was worse.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Sturgeon's Law.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Sturgeon's Law.

Maybe I was just using a poor methodology, but I think I drew closer to 99% than 90%.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Maybe you're just very much pickier than me.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

My career reading fanfiction was...short. I had pretty close to no luck at all finding anything that wasn't awful except for stuff that was worse.

What were you looking for?

There are some stories that have an interesting premise, but I find it impossible to enjoy a story where the author has no idea how to properly format paragraphs or dialogue, has no idea how to use punctuation, and doesn't bother to proofread it for spelling errors.

That said... some professional authors deliberately break the conventions in such matters. Margaret Atwood doesn't use conventional dialogue in The Handmaid's Tale, and it's something I've been trying to learn for the fanfic I've been working on (two of them, actually, both based on the 1990 movie rather than the TV series).

Combine that in a crossover with the TV series Sliders... and it's the most challenging story I've ever tried. I've got two sets of Sliders characters to work with, plus Atwood's characters, plus this is a prequel to the novel. I've had to ignore any influence the TV series might have, as these stories' premises popped into my head years before anyone thought it would be on TV. Trying to combine two very different styles of storytelling in the same story isn't easy, and it's why this is another project that's taken years (and will take more years still).

 

[Timsup2nothin]

What were you looking for?

There are some stories that have an interesting premise, but I find it impossible to enjoy a story where the author has no idea how to properly format paragraphs or dialogue, has no idea how to use punctuation, and doesn't bother to proofread it for spelling errors.

Well, that's a start...and took care of about 75% of the possibilities during my fanfic reading days. I actually wrote fanfiction without knowing that there was such a thing. I was sort of surprised when people said "you should put that on fanfiction.net" and responded with "what's that?" When I posted it I felt sort of honor bound to be a reader, and I diligently read stuff that people who followed me wrote, other stuff they followed, etc. Mostly I got irked that the same people who provided me proofreading service by pointing out "a missing apostrophe on page 73" could also be following someone who might very well misspell 73 words in a row. Tried picking stuff sort of randomly from TV shows I liked topics and learned that some of the TV shows I considered to be action/dramas fan fiction writers consider to be soap operas in need of some soft porn treatment. I hit one good story, a small handful of decent stories (handful defined as not outnumbering the fingers), a few that made it up to bad but readable sort of, and just mountains of drek.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

What were you looking for?

There are some stories that have an interesting premise, but I find it impossible to enjoy a story where the author has no idea how to properly format paragraphs or dialogue, has no idea how to use punctuation, and doesn't bother to proofread it for spelling errors.

I once wrote read a fanfic that was written very well, except for the author apparently not realizing commas existed. (In hindsight, perhaps this was some strange formatting issue.) Thankfully it was short so I actually edited my personal ePub copy to insert them.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Well, that's a start...and took care of about 75% of the possibilities during my fanfic reading days. I actually wrote fanfiction without knowing that there was such a thing. I was sort of surprised when people said "you should put that on fanfiction.net" and responded with "what's that?" When I posted it I felt sort of honor bound to be a reader, and I diligently read stuff that people who followed me wrote, other stuff they followed, etc. Mostly I got irked that the same people who provided me proofreading service by pointing out "a missing apostrophe on page 73" could also be following someone who might very well misspell 73 words in a row. Tried picking stuff sort of randomly from TV shows I liked topics and learned that some of the TV shows I considered to be action/dramas fan fiction writers consider to be soap operas in need of some soft porn treatment. I hit one good story, a small handful of decent stories (handful defined as not outnumbering the fingers), a few that made it up to bad but readable sort of, and just mountains of drek.

That's how it is, on a site that isn't curated. There are some stories that are good enough for professional publication, if it were allowed. Some stories should never have gotten out of the author's mind. Most are somewhere inbetween.

I found some of the former stories on AO3, when I looked up C.J. Cherryh (I've never found any Merovingen Nights fanfic, and went looking for some). I found a couple of stories based on Cyteen and Regenesis that are so good, so true to the source material and characters, that Cherryh herself couldn't have done a better job (well, she could if she expanded it, but within the scope of the short stories, I doubt it).

One of my favorite fandoms is Bonanza. There are two or three authors there who really get the characters, and give them more scope than they had on the TV series. Adam's leaving the Ponderosa is explained (Pernell Roberts left the show and it's like the rest of the characters suddenly had amnesia that Adam had ever existed), all the Cartwrights (even Ben) end up married with children/grandchildren, and one of the authors found an excellent way to do a crossover between Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Abrupt and brief change of subject.

Rave: Pizza!!!

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Abrupt and brief change of subject.

Rave: Pizza!!!

ME TOO! I just ordered a freebie from Domino's with reward points and they emailed me a link afterward with a coupon for another free pizza if I order it within the week. Challenge accepted.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'll be glad when I'm feeling well enough to eat pizza again.

 

[warpus]

My friend was like "wanna go for a drink on saturday", which turned into somehow me dancing on some dancefloor (my friend already went home) and now i'm home and i know i'm gonna be hungover tomorrow but it was a good time and some people were even slightly annoyed that my drink got on them and a girl even said "i have a boyfriend" to me so it was a good night for this introvert. When Queen came on I totally knew which moves to put down. All the millenials around me were clueless. I gave the DJ above the sign of respect in the form of a fist

 

[Takhisis]

Abrupt and brief change of subject.

Rave: Pizza!!!

ME TOO! I just ordered a freebie from Domino's with reward points and they emailed me a link afterward with a coupon for another free pizza if I order it within the week. Challenge accepted.

I'll be glad when I'm feeling well enough to eat pizza again.

"Stand firm for what you believe in, until and unless logic and experience prove you wrong. Remember, when the emperor looks naked, the emperor is naked. The truth and a lie are not sort of the same thing. And there is no aspect, no facet, no moment of life that can't be improved with pizza."
— Daria Morgendorffer