In Which ff.net may have actually done something right

[lolmac]

We know what a pit ff.net is -- and how annoying it is that it still gets more traffic than all the other sites put together.  For someone like me, whose main works are in a relatively obscure and lightly-trafficked fandom, I can't afford to ignore the place, even though the user interface is loathsome and the site owners are soulless monsters.  So

Comments

[lost_spook]

even though the user interface is loathsome and the site owners are soulless monsters

:lol: But you like it really...

And, little book covers! Aw. That is quite sweet, yes, and I like yours v much. (But no matter how many tiny fandoms I may languish in, I am NOT GOING BACK THERE. Heh.)

[lolmac]

I have to say that 'sweet' isn't exactly the reaction I'm aiming for, but what the hey.

At the moment, Ao3 is barely staying upright under the current influx of refugees, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they eventually implement something similar (given that SOP there is 'do everything better than ff.net, because SOMEBODY HAS TO AND SHOULD'). I'm aiming to really knock these out of the park so that, if and when they do that, I have something good enough to stand up in larger scale.

And, honestly, it's tremendous fun!

[lost_spook]

:lol: I meant the book covers idea is sweet... and that I like yours. Don't worry, it looked suitably adventurous/creepy. ;-)

[thothmes]

I don't play video games largely because I found that with my blue whale of an attention span, I start playing, and then it's magically morning, when only seconds ago it was 5 p.m. Life is too short to lose it like that on something like video games.

And then I got Adobe CS 4 and Corel PhotoPaint 4X one birthday, and I find those just as time-sucking, although one ends up with a stable of icons at the end of it...

Oh, and the book covers are lovely. So far I have managed not to get sucked into that game, because I have a grand total of only two or three things over on FF.net, but I keep seeing other people's pritteh, and I get tempted, oh so very tempted.

[lolmac]

No kidding about the grand vanishment of time: I was up until 3:30 am without having had any idea how much time had passed! It's been ages since I got that completely lost in a personal project. I loved it. (It happens from time to time at work, when I've got my teeth into something fascinating.)

I just wish I could get that completely lost in writing once in a while . . .

Thanks for the praise! I was much, much happier with how the second one turned out. Now that I have a template, I should be able to put together basic ones fairly quickly: I'd like to do some for Lothi's major works as well.

[thothmes]

That kind of disappearing time happens to me all the time, with disastrous effects on any "beauty sleep" I might get. I have to settle for deep and dirty sleep. I get caught up in reading, or in following just one more interesting lead on the internet, or in working on a graphic, or finishing a story, and finding that it is getting light out. I keep crawling into bed about an hour before Beloved Husband needs to get up for work, and telling him "I just suck at bedtimes!" He is delightfully fond of me just the way I am, and just mumbles "I know!" fondly and gathers me in for a cuddle

[lolmac]

The only reason I actually got to bed at 3:30 was that my partner woke up and clucked at me, causing me to notice the time. My brain was so revved that it took me a ridiculous amount of time to fall asleep, though.

FFN: "the user interface is loathsome & the site owners are soulless monsters"

[campylobacter]

TRUFAX.

FanFiction.net's user interface can barely be called an interface. I'm surprised anyone can figure out how to use it efficiently. As far as I know, the site owner is Chinese & pays attention to it only when they get complaints from lawyers & advertisers.

I'm surprised they're now allowing embedded graphics; one would think it would allow the spambots to post Viagra ads.

However, your "book" covers look like a fun project, and tempt me to upload the extant ones for my fic...

soulless dancing monster bears

[lolmac]

Use of ff.net <> 'efficient'. Like the dancing bear, it falls into the category of 'use it at all'.

There's a warning against 'adult' images, and since they're currently doing a smut purge, they may actually enforce it for the first 90 seconds or so. Not that I'd lay money on it. I assume the crackdown is due to some kind of potentially expensive squeeze being put on them.

I remember seeing the cover you did for one of your Daniel/Vala works -- full cover with blurb and spine and all, and it looked fabulous! In fact, it got me wanting to do something similar, but I had no reason to do so until now. So it's sort of your fault. Feel free to call the authorities and claim credit in a sinister and throaty voice. ;-)

Re: soulless dancing monster bears

[campylobacter]

Glad to have helped spread the concept of fanfic "book covers" to the MacGyver fandom! AO3 doesn't have a designated "bookcover" feature, but does allow embedded HTML tags for pictures, so you *can* decorate your AO3 entries with 1 or more images. Here's hoping FFN's ToS purge drives more traffic to AO3 after the dust settles. :D

Re: soulless dancing monster bears

[lolmac]

Here's hoping FFN's ToS PoS purge drives more traffic to AO3

Amen, sister! I just wish the WSJ article on fanfic had mentioned Ao3 instead of that ridiculous Wattpad site. (I had never heard of Wattpad, so I looked at it. Scawwy.) At least Lev Grossman gave them a really good shout-out in Time magazine.

I'd forgotten about the embedded graphics at Ao3 -- even though I already use it extensively, because I have cute little story-specific spacer graphics in my longer works that I was able to use there! Hmmm, must follow up on that after they've recovered from the current influx.

[lothithil]

Your book covers look great! I'm very excited to see what you'll come up with next! :D

[lolmac]

I've got some ideas for yours, too!

[jackwabbit]

Your covers are great, but I'm not a fan of the covers in general. Too busy on my page.

[lolmac]

It's kind of appalling to me that there are people on ff.net who apparently post pictures of themselves as avatars. Recognizable pictures. Oy!!

[jackwabbit]

Yeah, that's not for me, either, though I do have one of myself on Twitter, so I suppose I shouldn't judge, eh?