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SillySilenia

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Posts posted by SillySilenia

  1. Moving some of my older stuff from FFN to AFF.

    in General Staff Questions

    Posted

    Okay, thank you for your quick response. Yes, I figured a PM or mail would be sufficient, but wasn't sure who exactly to direct it to. I will wait for DG's response for now, then, because I'd prefer to get it all over with in one go. I'm not in a real hurry, probably won't get around to posting the things here until Sunday or Monday anyway, but I felt it better to deal with this beforehand, because I can imagine it looking somewhat suspicious otherwise.

  2. Moving some of my older stuff from FFN to AFF.

    in General Staff Questions

    Posted · Edited by SillySilenia

    I'm intending to post some of my stuff over at FFN here (and most likely pull it from there once the transitioning has finished).

    These fics are, however, spread over two accounts there, as I abandoned my older account for quite a while. The older one of these accounts uses a rather different username than I use here, although the profile does make mention of me commonly using the name Silenia.

    In order to prevent suspicions of plagiarism, is there anything specific I need to do or tell/send staff to show that I am one and the same person as the owner of the accounts I intend to pull at FFN and/or that I am the writer of these fics?

    (I have no problems disclosing my identity over there to staff here, but for privacy reasons also pertaining to me abandoning the original account, I feel uncomfortable mentioning my FFN usernames (or rather, my old FFN username) in a forum even guests can read. Should staff feel this is necessary, I will however do so.)

  3. Funny Typos

    in Personal Rants & Journals

    Posted

    Recently made some typos in a language I myself am creating for a huge fantasy project of mine. Oops. XD

    One of these resulted in something that could be interpreted as "and the scribe got fucked (with) [by the wind]" rather than the "and the writings were messed up [by the wind]". Three letters difference, wholly different meaning. XD (Ki zhelem tayi azir [rha lian] instead of the Ki zhelan tayi azar [rha lian] I intended. XD)

    Not that either sentence will be likely to actually make it into the story - mostly working on sentences to figure out which parts of grammar I have so far neglected and which words I still miss. Can't reference to a language properly if I myself don't know it.

    As to more... mundane typos, "The elevator went pup."

    Morphing elevators, what is the world coming to?

  22. What Do You Look For In An Ideal Review?

    in Reviews

    Posted · Edited by SillySilenia

    What I look for in an ideal review...

    Honesty. I prefer someone outright stating they disliked my story (preferably with their reasons for this) over the famous "sandwich formula" when and if it's clear to me anyway that they disliked the story. Liked parts but hated others? Then make that clear. Don't wrap it up in twenty layers of compliments with half a sentence dedicated to what you disliked. Tell me what you disliked, why, if/how it could be improved.

    Criticism & Non-genericness.

    You didn't like it? That's fine, but what is the reason? Anything on my side that could be improved, or just not your cup of tea, etc.? Found some factual inconsistencies? Grammatical issues? Spelling mistakes? Plot holes (except in crack-fics and PWP, of course)? Point it out. Can't correct what I'm not aware of.

    You hated it? Let me know, and why - unless it is because you refused to take heed of the summary and warnings. If I mention my story centers around a specific pairing or kink, you read it anyway, and then complain 'cause you don't like the pairing or kink... well, frankly speaking, you're wasting your time complaining, then.

    You liked it? Lovely, but why/what part? Anything you feel could be improved? While "Loved it, write more plz." is nice for an ego-stroke, it doesn't tell me anything. Not even that someone read the story - for all I know, they could be copy-and-pasting it all over the archive. Same goes for "U & ur story suck, go crawl in a hole and die". If you are bothered enough to wish me dead, at least let me know why, 'kay? ;)

    (Not that I have received reviews of that kind on AFF yet - though I have on other sites)

    Oh, and don't go and complain over a single typo if your review is written in leet-speak, littered with typos, etc. Point it out, sure. Get all up on your high horse? Not when your review that's less than 10% of the size of my chapter has about ten times as many typos in it as my chapter.

  23. Why Do We Hate Mary Sue?

    in Original Character Development

    Posted

    One of the problems with Mary Sues is that we're mainly told about them, rather than see them do something. We're told they're smart, witty, good in strategy, perfect, beautiful, strong, independent, social, friendly, etc.

    Yet with exception of beauty (a lot of Sue-writers do tend to describe their pet Sue's appearance with huge amount of detail), we never see that proved. Okay, maybe the Sue wins a game of chess in the story's background somewhere (not that that immediately makes someone a strategy wiz), and maybe some people laugh at a witty remark of them (though often, the remark itself isn't shown and if it is, it's usually not all that witty), but that's it.

    Sometimes, we hear about them doing things that prove those points, but even then, the actual action is rarely shown. "Mary Antoinette Raven Tara Susan "Sue" Blackwood smiled as the strategy she had convinced the others of proved to be working." vs. "I think," Mary said, "that we should reinforce the troops here, because the intelligence we have suggests the enemy will likely come ashore nearby. Perhaps we could set up a trap there for them."

    The first only tells us she's good in strategy, the second shows it (or disproves it, depending on the result later in the story).

    Of course, it's not a problem if some things are told rather than shown; however, the problem with many Sues is that we almost completely have to rely on things the author tells us, rather than shows us, which makes Sues boring - perhaps even moreso than their supposed lack of flaws, or the sheer predictability of the character and events it stars in. (It also basically makes most Sues a form of unreliable narrating)

  24. Why Do We Hate Mary Sue?

    in Original Character Development

    Posted

    Personally, I would not say that I hate Mary Sues, for the simple reason that I don't care enough about them to form hatred.
    Which is exactly the problem, in my opinion - they're boring and it's almost impossible to form some kind of connection with them as characters (beyond boredness, apathy, pity and, if the story itself could be good but the Sue ruins it, despise).

    Am I jealous of them? No. I have, on the internet, dealt with crowds that were near-worshipping me. Frankly speaking, it's annoying, frustrating and suffocating, not to mention creepy. I have absolutely no wish for such a thing to happen to me in real life. Internet is bad enough.

    I don't give a damn about looks, especially not "perfect" looks - perfect looks don't tell stories, as to say, in the way a scar, or wrinkles, etc. do - and I have no wish to have them.

    So no, I am not jealous. I don't want to be loved by 90% of the people around me because I'm "perfect" and hated by the remaining 10% out of "spite" and "jealousy".

    I don't want to run in and save the day because all people around me miraculously forget they're just as capable of solving problems.

    Basically, Mary Sue is just about everything I am not and have no wish to be.

    I agree that canon-Sues are worse than fanfic Sues. It makes me wonder how people got -that- published. What I detest even more, however, is when characters in canon morph into Sues through the series (Yes, Auel, I'm looking at Ayla here). I hate reading about a character I used to have a connection with become more and more like a character that could've come out of a six-year-old's first story. (Except for the humping-their-way-through-prehistoric-Europe part)

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