blamebrampton | Stupid questions time, aka, Flist, I need you!

Stupid questions time, aka, Flist, I need you!

Let's just begin with me pointing out that I am very smart at some things, and very stupid at others.

One of the things I appear to be stupid at is fandom archives. They appear to make a whole lot of sense to people who are already there (and probably to young people today), but I am continually coming up with questions that I can't find answers to.

For example:
* When considering posting to FanFiction.net, how do you manage to include characters they do not list? Because none of the DH people were about in their drop-down menus last time I checked and I could not go for an 'other'; is it just my browser, are they haters of Book Seven and refuse to acknowledge its existence? Is EWE their bible? Am I just thick?

* Lovely

anthimaeria subscribed me to Skyehawke. I cannot log in. Not even when I copy and paste my subscription details from the "Hi, you're subscribed!" letter. The mods have had to deal with a huge implosion of tech over there, so I don't want to email them again, but could it be a browser issue (I'm on Camino) or is it just the internet saying "We know your Luddite ways, spinning girl! No owner of an abacus will ever be truly part of us!"

* Is there a guide to what works at which archive? And this question is both from a reading and writing perspective. I've tried ambling about but seem to spend an awful lot of time reading first paragraphs and running away in horror, or else finding very well-written stuff for story lines that, alas, just don't really grab me.

* Finally, is it kosher to post an old story to the ASS Ship? Because I think SoTF would like an outing there at some point.

Thanks for any help. It's 11.30pm, I have a flight to Tasmania at 8.45 in the morning and I need to write a garden story, pack, write a bit more of my WIP and finish betawork on a brilliantly clever piece for someone great plus shower, sleep and dress in between. Easy!

Sadly,

cassiphone, I'm off to Launceston, not Hobart, or I'd be offering beverages!

anthimaeria and

jadzialove, I will be sending postcards. Anyone else who reads this in the next eight hours can add their names and addresses, too, but I can't guarantee being able to log in between leaving Sydney Airport and arriving at my friend's goat farm. Oh the glamorous life ...

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Sorry, I can't help you. I have an a/c at skyehawke but rarely use it. I find the site impersonal to tell the truth. And I KNOW that ff.net is, like, the biggest archive where, apparently, everyone goes first to look for fics, but I've never posted there.

You could always try Hex Files. :)

I need to actually *finish* an H/D story first ... Sigh. At least I am now only 200 words off finishing my garden story. Like the WIND for journalism. Like the continental plates for fic ... More sighing. Thanks, though!

(And yes ... I started trying to read things at ff.net and ran away, scared and scarred. I'll happily face (and have faced) lions, muggers, Australian snakes and wild dogs, but some fic is beyond my courage.)

Ah, finishing a fic. There's not a feeling like it!

Hm - see what you mean - if it's not H/D, THF is no good.

I sometimes find that skyehawke messes coding up for no apparent reason. Are you failing at the uploading text stage or before that?

It won't even let me log in: I fail at the very beginning. There's probably an emo song in that ...

Oh. Bloody archives! Sorry I can't advise anything else then.

(I was singing that to you, in case you were wondering.)

Hee! I hope you were wearing something black at the same time.

Both black and floor-length, you'll be pleased to hear. I had to go and put some black lippy on though, as I was facially unadorned.

Oh bless, that's the sort of attention to detail that makes you so special.

You won't be saying that when I post 'Harry POtter and the razor blade of doom'. He'll be like Voldemort, except instead of Dark Marks, they'll all have self harm scars.

I am trying to be a Serious Garden Journalist here and you are making me spit coffee all over my notes!

Thank you!! Thank you!!

(We completely need that to be an invitation-only comm where we all get to write a passage at a time, before posting it on ff.net under a pseudonym ...)

I might try posting 'lave my lusty love pump' there without the crack warning, just to see how many people take it seriously.

I can see the reviews now:

O_o Wow! Fab! U R GR8

blah blah...

Garden journalist? Cool!

Oh you are evil. In all the very best ways.

Yah, kind of cool if you like freebies of fertiliser ... I went through a period of being Garden Girl before I went back to Serious News, and a friend had an emergency need for a freelancer this week, so I put my hand up out of Christmas charity. Suffice to say that I can answer questions on varieties of euphorbia or the expansion of Islamic militantism in SE Asia, but I cannot tell you where my spleen is or drive a car.

YOU CAN'T DRIVE?

You amoeba, you!

I am both poking out my tongue and making rude hand gestures!! (but with love)

In my defence, I have spent my entire life living either in the country where I could ride my horse or bike everywhere, or in inner cities where I could walk, ride my bike, public transport or cab everywhere with far less fuss than driving. I do not do suburbia.

My American friends are always scandalised, but I swear I have never felt the lack of a licence. My Australian friends are all fine with it once I explain that I know enough theory that I COULD take them to the nearest hospital in the event of far rural snake bite, provided they did not care deeply about the state of their car's engine afterwards.

Many of my English friends also do not drive!

Sadly in England the primary deciding factor on whether people drive or not is if they can afford the petrol. It costs me over £50 (115 Aus dollars) to fill my car up, and that does about 300 miles. The public transport netweork is so bad that I don't have any other option, although I'm currently saving the planet by not working at all and thus not driving anywhere.

:)

I know, it's shocking! What city are you in? I was always v lucky in that all of my life was Tube-handy in London, or mediaevally connected at my grandparent's farm (ie, everything was within a solid walk or a pleasant ride).

I blame the mix of skyrocketing housing and centralised industry. I'm sure we can still blame Thatcher for it (my record collection is not the only part of my life unwilling to let the '80s go!)

Sorry - didn't mean to be patronising. I didn't know you were an ex-pat or had lived here.

I live almost in the centre of England, less than 20 miles from Birmingham. My job is in Warwick, but I have to drive across the county to a lot of meetings and such, and there's not a bus or train handy for all that.

They reckon the housing market is finally turning. The news last week is scaremongering about mortgages, and how many borrowers won't be able to get new mortgages when their fixed-interest terms are up. It's all bloody worrying.

Not patronising at all! You're hardly likely to be psychic ;-) I grew up between my grandparent's horse farm not far from Lewes and dad's place in Knightsbridge, then a raft of share places in London before moving out to Aus in stages and stayed after meeting the One True Man (who does drive, he's a rural Aussie, I believe his testicles would have been removed if he'd not wanted to!)

You *are* in the dead zone for good public transport. It's all fine if you're an OAP with all the time in the world and a bag of knitting to see you through, but yes, useless for business.

I'm comparatively lucky, even in a city as sprawling as Sydney my whole world (work, fave shops, friends) is within five miles, so I can just walk during strikes. Roads here are so dreadful that it's actually easier. I used to ride a bicycle, but I'm just not up for another six-month rehab period! (They drive like LUNATICS here. It's all the heat and humidity.)

I have a small house in Kent that I was left by a great-aunt. At the rate things have been going, I think it currently represents my whole retirement. Madness. Fingers crossed sanity returns soon, I plan on being one of those 80+ doyennes of the editing world who refuse to retire!

Perhaps I should start cosying up to you now because even a rabbit hutch in Kent is well into 6 figures.

I love Sydney. Me and the other half spent a month in Australia a couple of years ago, a week of which was in Sydney. LOvely restaurants - haven't ever eaten so much sea food!

Are Aussie men really as sexist as they're made out to be?

I know, it's insane! Twenty years of savings and superannuation and such and one piece of luck made all the difference. The lesson I learned is to always be patient with elderly relatives ;-)

Sydney is still that good for food, and most Australian men are really not that bad! In fact, most of my male friends here are more open and less sexist than those back home. However, the worst Australian men are so awful they make you feel warm and caring towards football hooligans with multiple asbos. Luckily they are few and far between and tend to congregate in known areas that can be avoided (I am happy to provide a map if you come back!)

My partner has relatives in Brisbane, so when we went to Oz we did a bit of travelling around. Sydney, Uluru, Cairns and Brisbane - a week in each as good as. God, we loved it - could definitely see ourselves living over there. The people were universally lovely, although I have to admit I found Alice Springs really disturbing. You get to see the massive social divide between the Aborigines and the settlers. I know the issues are complex and long standing, but it's shocking to see people in such a developed country looking diseased and filthy. It was very distressing for both of us.

I hope you're sleeping!

* When considering posting to FanFiction.net, how do you manage to include characters they do not list? Because none of the DH people were about in their drop-down menus last time I checked and I could not go for an 'other';

I despise, FF.net, though I do have a few stories there. And for my Harry/George fics, I put the pairing info and the slash warnings and such in the summary so there was no mistaking it. The archives have a habit of listing the twins as one, which is annoying and a problem now that there are no longer two. *sobs!*

* Finally, is it kosher to post an old story to the ASS Ship? Because I think SoTF would like an outing there at some point.

I don't have any actual knowledge, but I don't see why not--I'm sure there are people on those comms that would love to read it.

* Lovely anthimaeria subscribed me to Skyehawke. I cannot log in. Not even when I copy and paste my subscription details from the "Hi, you're subscribed!" letter.

If you'd like to send me the login info they sent to you, I'll try it from here to see if it's the browser business or what. I was going to do the same thing for you on insanejournal, but I saw that you'd already started one there.

I'm not at all familiar with the strictly Drarry or the new S/AS (because calling it ASS makes me sad) archives (or even if there are any), but now that you've got me hooked into this business, I plan on researching this, so I'll keep you posted as to what I discover.

*pets* Don't worry, my lovely Luddite friend, I'll hold your hand through this, you just keep spinning and remember that you will be the abacus toting Queen of the World when it all goes pear shaped.

Edited 2007-12-13 16:43 (UTC)

HAHAHAHA! You are so intuitive! That was the reason I learned to use an abacus! It was the 80s, things were so grim that we had the 'Head for Hyde Park, it's better to die in the first wave' plans ... It occurred to me that I could sew a bit, I could farm a lot, I knew how to handle animals ... if I was going to be part of the 'Definitely Lives!' category in a post/pre-technological feudal society arising out of the ashes of global holocaust, I should definitely add to my skills.

We've covered off the whole slightly over-dramatic but good at planning aspects of my younger self already, yes?

Thank you for the hand-holding!

PS I'll send you some details Sunday night; the internet does not like the wilds of Northern Tassie ... but the goats are cute and I rescued a duck from certain death and wasn't even pecked for my troubles, hurrah!

That is a shame! Enjoy Launceston, though

I'm going to see the Monkey Pit; I suspect it of resembling your icon ...

Not that you quite the smut queen that I am, but please be aware that ff.net is often capricious. If someone reports you, then your story is booted with no warning and no recourse. This happened to me. A story that had been on there for two years must have been reported as violating their TOS and it was removed. And I was put in limbo. You couldn't search for me, I wouldn't appear, and I couldn't post either. It was like that for about six months. I seem to be a living breathing person over there these days, but that place seems to be inhabited by robots. I am not the only person who has been bumped (some people were removed completely, ERASED), and no recourse. No response to inquiries, etc. So, my dear, archive there at your own risk.

That's ... outrageous is the only word that even begins ...

Hmmm. ff.net came about around the same time as Gitmo, did it not? Am I seeing parallels where there are only coincidences, or is it something more sinister? [Looks about with dark suspicions]

D'oh. Me. Sorry.

It's not the booting that I minded, it was the lack of response. Also, the terms of my "probation" were never specified. You couldn't search on me for months, and I couldn't post, then all of a sudden I could. But with not even an automated notice. "You are now allowed to join our planet earthling scum." Plus the interface to post stories is utter crap. It's so laborious that I dread going over them and updating WIPs. But I do get a lot of reads from there so I haven't removed my stuff (I will also say that the crowd who reads there is YOUNG).

Not ff.net. Really.

Skyehawke has, I'll agree, an impersonal layout, but if you can log in (which, argh for you not being able to) it's terribly easy to use.

Fiction Alley is a pain to upload stuff to, and you can't use curly quotes or em-dashes or their code scrambles them, and you can't post anything harder than R-rating; but it gets quite a lot of traffic, and isn't anything like as horrifying as ff.net. I'd suggest it as an interim if you want to archive and Skyehawke is ignoring you. (Also, I don't know whether this would be a pro or con for you, but web searches will find FA fics, but not Skyehawke ones.)

Agree - avoid ff.net.

I've not had any trouble getting my Skyehawke fics to pop up on searches. In fact, if I Google "A Thousand Beautiful Things" with "I Feel Lucky" I get my own fic, even though it's titled after an Annie Lennox song. I hope Annie isn't pissed off about it, though. It cracks me up.

Hee! Fabulous. She's probably into fic and loves it!

I don't really mind Skyehawke's layout, I'm there for the fic reading. But the not logging in has me stumped (I strongly suspect that since I joined around the time of the great rebuild, it just slipped through the cracks, which is pretty understandable!)

Fiction Alley sounds like a good idea; I shall give it a shot. Thank you!

That was me. Am writing on a friend's computer since his network will let me access exactly one page of th einternet on mine; the email address I use as a holding address for forwarding a few things. Sigh. Northern Tasmania is not the technologucal hub that Northern Europe is. This would never happen in Estonia!

FF.net I think you need to request new characters be added to the list (not that I could tell you how to do that). They probably are not "haters", just not proactive. Also, I dunno if they have separate admins for each fandom area or what. If someone is trying to manage the whole mess, whoa nelly, no wonder things take a while to update.

Edited 2007-12-14 00:13 (UTC)

Cheers ears!

I can't imagine why the mods of the ASS Ship would mind if you posted a story that includes AS/S that hasn't been posted there yet regardless of the fact that you posted elsewhere first.

As a reader, the ASS Ship is my primary source for AS/S. The only reason I know about SoTF is because Leochi drew some fanart for it and posted it on the ASS Ship. I don't always check out every fanart posted so if I hadn't just happened to check out that particular fanart of Leochi's, there's a good chance I never would have known about the story ... and that would have been a shame because SoTF is truly one of the best AS/S stories I've read.

As an AS/S fan and a fan of SoTF, my guess is the people who check out the ASS Ship would most certainly be happy to see SoTF posted there. I imagine there are at least a few who missed that specific post of Leochi's or even if they checked out the picture, they might have missed the fact that it was dedicated to a specific story that was never posted on the ASS Ship.

So, in a nutshell, *I* think you should post it; but if you are really not sure, you can email one of the mods and ask I suppose.

Could you provide a link the the ASS Ship? As a newbie to the pairing it would be most appreciated. :)

Go here for the ASS ship.

You nice useful person!

*blushes*

Thank you (and the compliment is warming my tired little heart, too)! And yes, it seemed logical that it would be fine, but then everything seemed to be new work constantly, and I like to know the polite thing ... I did email, but I know that they have had a very busy month with a combination of fests and RL hols and some issues with postings, so I didn't want to bug because my question is, as I say, very much at the stupid end.

I do like to be polite, though. I still queue at bus stops, too. It's sad, really.

dang, missed the chance at a postcard [*pouts*]

i can't imagine anyone would care if you posted a story that fit the comm that is 'old'. first off it can't be v. old, since the boys haven't even existed for a year yet. i'm sure it's fine.

i wouldn't touch ff.net with a ten foot pole.

i've had some issues with skyehawke as well, but i do love the archive. let me know if i can be of better assistance. will email you so you'll have my email if you want to chat that way.

no guides that i know of. sorry.

and i'd push you towards hexfiles as well. the mods there are really great, and the readers are a lovey comment-y bunch. and no, you don't have to finish before you post. both skyhawke and hex (and all others i know of) let you easily add more chapters to your fic. so post the chapters you already have of your h/d and you'll be generating readers for future chapters. [*nods*]

hope the flight and trip went well. [*cuddles*]

Send your address! I can still pick up dodgy postcards and post them when I get home if none of the newsagencies or airport shops sell stamps. Today ended up being spent bringing in supplies for my farmer friend's plumbing, visiting the monkey pit, eating takeaway, rescuing a trapped duck (hurrah for small hands!) and visiting a chocolate factory and discount fabric shop (wool/cotton blend with a satin finish, $6/m!)

Now I have bugger all internet on the MacBook, so am using my friend's antique computer and am left up alone with the cat waiting for me to find him a steak and the peacock running up to the window to see what I am doing. He is asking for an incident.

Thanks for the tips! I do feel much more informed; I knew I had a lovely and useful Flist! Must go and shower off thick sunblock; oh ozone layer, we never really loved you as we should have ...

'Ello! Just thought I oughta introduce myself since I just friended you and all. I started reading Sins Of The Fathers today and let me just say that it was absolutely perfect! The pacing was perfect and I really love your writing style. Aw shucks, I may just love you too!

Hey you! Thanks, I'm so glad that you're enjoying it! Make sure that you read Sansa's original list, too (and actually anything she's ever written) it's really good!

I'm really excited about the_ASS_Ship, there are some great things being written for one of my favourite pairings, I just need time to read some more!

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Stupid questions time, aka, Flist, I need you!

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