Two things

[angelqueen04]

Yesterday, I was stopped at a traffic light on my way home from work. When the left turn signals turned green on both sides of the road, one of the cars that was making a left hand turn on the opposite side of the road turned out to be a van that had been designed to look exactly like 'The Mystery Machine' of Scooby Doo fame. I even saw a huge

Comments

[archaeologist_d]

I have no idea why people follow a story that is clearly done. I get those, too.

[angelqueen04]

It's so weird. I always shake my head and wonder. Maybe they're just not noticing that it's complete (though when part of the title consists of saying something like 'A to Z' and there are 26 chapters, it's a fair bet that the story is done)?

[jelazakazone]

OMG, I had exactly that same question. I have people following stories that are marked complete. I don't get it. At all. I mean, I can see that people would want more story, but I am done with that particular story. If it were AO3, I would feel more comfortable encouraging people to go ahead and write more of that story for themselves.

[angelqueen04]

Oh, I hear you. AO3 is much better regulated, with the 'works inspired' option and whatnot. ff.net... no. Just, no. That place can be far too scary.

[jelazakazone]

Eh. I don't even care about "inspired by". I am still freaking out that 11 year olds (who lets their 11 year old on the computer unsupervised anyway?), 11 year olds! are reading fanfic that I am writing.

[nyxelestia]

I think the more important question is why aren't those 11-year-olds lying about their age?

I've been into fanfic since I was 12, so I have zero delusions about kids getting into parts of the Internet they really shouldn't be in (4chan at 14 made me somewhat behind the times in my social circle, in fact). This has made me rather blase about kids reading mature material.

My only problem is that so many of them are being honest about it. Seriously, actual Adult Fear dangers of young kids online aside, don't they know revealing their real age will get them banned, and - more importantly to them - block them from reading certain fics over a certain rating?

I say if you see someone you know is "too" young online, just report them if the website has rules about ages (I think on FFN you have to be at least 13? Or do they not have an official age limit?). It won't stop them one bit, but it'll at least make them wise-up about the realities of age issues on the Internet and make the rest of our lives easier.

[vickysg1]

It happened to one of my fics just this week (though it's not the first time it happened). I wonder if people even notice when it's marked 'complete'. It's even funnier when it happens to oneshots!

[angelqueen04]

Yeah, I've had it happen several times to me too, both on one-shots and on multichapter stories. It is rather amusing, but it's usually pretty obvious when a story is over, isn't it?

[vickysg1]

Yep, but I guess not for everybody.

[nyxelestia]

a.) Some people use the "follow stories" function as a type of secondary favorites list or other means of keeping track of stories they don't like without external bookmarking systems or cluttering up their favorites list

b.) I do it because more than once I would reread a fic I last saw marked as "complete" only for the author to get new inspiration and start adding yet more chapters to it.

[angelqueen04]

Really? I never thought of doing that. Heh, my favorites list over there has over four hundred fics on it, so maybe I should. ;)

That's true, sometimes authors do decide to add more to their fics.

[nyxelestia]

a.) Just realized that should be "stories they like" not "stories they don't like". *facepalm*

b.) I think I did that a few times in my early days of fanficcing, back when I was like 12/13. Even today, while I post new material in a new fic, I'll often post an "update" chapter stating that anyone who likes this fic can go check out the sequel to the fic.

[lycoris]

That is so epically awesome and cool! :D

I have never understood that either. Maybe it's "just in case" you update or add or ... something? It's a bit weird.

[angelqueen04]

Heh, it is! I still grin whenever I think about it. I adored Scooby Doo and the gang when I was a kid. :)

I think so. nyxelestia pointed out that some authors use the follow list as a secondary favorites list. I personally had never thought of it in those terms, but it does seem like a good idea.