"10 Ways" Meme, gakked from all over my flist
10 ways to tell you're reading a story by Merlin Missy
10. There will probably be a Message [tm]. It will almost certainly not be subtle.
9. There will be more dashes than are healthy. In lieu of dashes, you may find semi-colons breeding in the margins.
8. There will be many bad jokes, most often referring to a) Warner Brothers cartoons, b) other genre shows, or c) Cool "Disco" Dan. The reader will not be expected to laugh at or even necessary get these jokes, as they exist to make me laugh.
7. If there is a plot, you will definitely have seen it before, and it will be resolved in a cheesy way, because ...
6. ... it's all about the characterization anyway, specifically the interpersonal relationships between the various characters. Note that this is going to be more "people who are ostensibly friends but kind of hate each other" than "people who are shagging or want to shag someone else" kind of relationships.
5. If my current OTP is in the story, they are going to bicker. If a couple is in the story and not bickering, I probably don't 'ship them. Since I only write slash for ficathons, same-sex couples usually do not bicker in my stories, so the following two notes will not apply.
4. For any given couple arguing in a story, the female will win / be right / both.
3. For any given couple arguing in a story, the male will be very confused by / slightly frightened of the female for at least part of the story.
2. After the story is posted, I will tell anyone who asks that there is no sequel or followup planned because I only write one-shots.
1. The sequel will be posted within about six months.
10. There will probably be a Message [tm]. It will almost certainly not be subtle.
9. There will be more dashes than are healthy. In lieu of dashes, you may find semi-colons breeding in the margins.
8. There will be many bad jokes, most often referring to a) Warner Brothers cartoons, b) other genre shows, or c) Cool "Disco" Dan. The reader will not be expected to laugh at or even necessary get these jokes, as they exist to make me laugh.
7. If there is a plot, you will definitely have seen it before, and it will be resolved in a cheesy way, because ...
6. ... it's all about the characterization anyway, specifically the interpersonal relationships between the various characters. Note that this is going to be more "people who are ostensibly friends but kind of hate each other" than "people who are shagging or want to shag someone else" kind of relationships.
5. If my current OTP is in the story, they are going to bicker. If a couple is in the story and not bickering, I probably don't 'ship them. Since I only write slash for ficathons, same-sex couples usually do not bicker in my stories, so the following two notes will not apply.
4. For any given couple arguing in a story, the female will win / be right / both.
3. For any given couple arguing in a story, the male will be very confused by / slightly frightened of the female for at least part of the story.
2. After the story is posted, I will tell anyone who asks that there is no sequel or followup planned because I only write one-shots.
1. The sequel will be posted within about six months.