Subject: Re: Hijack time! New chapter for OFUA, as well!
Author:
Posted on: 2013-01-29 22:09:00 UTC
Sadly, I don't know that much about Warcraft, but this is enjoyable reading regardless. Long, interesting and amusing... and I still can't wait for the mass shock, horror and general confusion of the fanbrat orientation, as well as any more amusing spellcasting etc. from the staff. I'm looking forward to reading more.
Here it is (I'm too lazy to HTML it): http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8528580/8/The-Official-Fanfiction-Academy-of-Starfleet
This chapter focuses more on Voyager, but come to think of it, the chapter before it was TNG, and the chapter before that was TOS. And the next chapter will give all three "screentime". So I'm really just rambling pointlessly.
Enjoy!
I love that I could identify Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres from context and their "voices" before their names were mentioned. That is a sign of good work!
I'd love to read more about what actually goes on in the classes, like the actual teaching part, but I guess you've got a full year's worth to cover in future chapters.
I'm also increasingly sad that DS9 isn't involved, because I keep noticing instances where the cast would be helpful, like in Dating in Starfleet. Trill and Klingon romance, anyone? How about Ferengi and Bajoran? What if the woman you're dating turns out to be a space pirate with a heart of gold and you have to bring her in? Awkward!
Janeway and O'Brien could totally come in to help talk about being married in Starfleet, though. That's a tricky beast, and I'm sure they all have different ways of coping with the stresses involved. I don't know much about Janeway's marriage, but O'Brien's is particularly rocky at times.
... Muaha. If the fanbrats are particularly ill-behaved, you can always inflict Neelix and Kes on them. They're so sappy!
I will stop telling you how to conduct your OFU now. ^_^;
~Neshomeh
First of all, did you realize they were Tom and B'Elanna before or after B'Elanna started listing her minis? Because if it was after then that wasn't any talent on my part. If it was before, wow. I don't think there were any hints.
Yes, more of the actual teaching will be shown later. Though there was a bit of it in the scene with Geordi, and some implications in Janeway's class.
DS9 is not included in this OFU simply because I don't know enough about it. When I started OFAS, I hadn't seen any of it, and now I've seen maybe 5 episodes. I like it so far, and I plan to write the DS9/Enterprise branch of OFAS after this one's done. (maybe in a decade or so, given my updating schedule...)
Janeway gets married? Surely you're thinking of someone else. I've seen all of Voyager (that's why I was able to start DS9) and she doesn't. Unless you believe the headcanon of a huge group of fans that ship Janeway/Chakotay.
Neelix and Kes...Yeah, they are sappy. However, Kes is going to appear later, in a very interesting way. Let's just go with all plotholes in Trekverse lead to OFAS...
Also, is it just me, or is Kes kind of a Canon Sue?
Glad you're enjoying it!
I'm pretty sure I suspected before B'Elanna called her minis; that confirmed it. Tom Paris sounded particularly Tom Paris-like, and you'd mentioned this chapter was Voyager-heavy, and he and B'Elanna would make sense to teach a class about dating as a couple. It all added up. {= )
Whoops, Janeway was engaged at the beginning of the series. Had to check Memory Alpha about that—I just remembered that she was involved with a guy and had a picture of him, and got mixed up. ^_^; Still, though, she'd know something about dating in Starfleet.
Just gonna put out there that I'd be willing to help with DS9 stuff, as and when you want. I haven't quite reached the end of the series, but I'm close enough that I'd be pretty comfortable consulting. For instance, if you want to know what O'Brien and Worf get up to for characterization purposes.
Kes... I dunno, she was kind of annoying, but she also had enough good moments to balance it out, as I recall. Her relationship with the Doctor was cool. I've only seen the first two or three seasons of Voyager, though, so maybe she gets more ridiculous later? I did wonder if they were going to do something about her species' short lifespan, and I guess there's the psychic thing. *shrug*
Oddly enough, though, I like Neelix. He's just so earnest about everything, it's hard to hold it against him even when he's being ridiculous.
All plotholes in Trekverse? That's, uh, a lot of plotholes. Especially where the medical science is concerned. >.>
~Neshomeh
Yes, Janeway is slated to be a guest speaker in Dating in Starfleet. That's how I'm including characters who aren't teaching classes, as well as, in Janeway's case, elaborating on characters who are teaching already.
By the time I do DS9, I'll probably be caught up on it. I'll certainly tell you when I do, though. (I'm already looking forward to it.)
Kes strikes me as a Canon Sue for the simple reason that I can't find any flaws. Everyone loves her, and she has special powers, and she's all sweetness and purity and light. Seven of Nine, who replaced her in the fourth season, was much less Sue-y. Despite being the obvious Ms. Fanservice, she used to be Borg - was in fact assimilated so young that she was basically raised by the Borg collective. Then she suffers the trauma of being seperated, and there's a wonderful Humanity Ensues character arc as she slowly gains the crew's trust, comes to terms with her Borg nature and all that entails, and explores different parts of the human experience.
I didn't like Neelix at first, but he grew on me. I think it was his relationship with Tuvok that did it - his constant perkiness contrasted with Tuvok's solid Vulcan-ness made for humor and interesting character development.
Yes, all plotholes. Though the less obvious ones just float aimlessly around, sometimes causing malfunctions when they hit things. Like making Data use contractions. The bigger ones can be used as storage.
For me, the main thing that makes a Sue is that they bend (or break) the rules around them, whether they be rules of characterization or basic rules of reality. So, just having alien powers and being really nice and thus popular isn't necessarily Sueish, but if members of the crew treat her differently than they do other nice people, or if her abilities contradict previously established Trekverse rules without a really solid reason, that would be Sueish. But again, I don't really remember well enough to say.
I will have to try to watch enough Voyager to meet Seven of Nine. I need to see what all the fuss is about. {= )
~Neshomeh
OK, that was hilarious. Miss Gloria using Hanssen as an assistant makes sense, and the text strings and text walls are brilliant - as is the idea of making the students take their lessons in a room build from them.
Oh, poor Janeway. She really needs that coffee, having to teach that lot. She fits her teaching subject well, too - and I liked the 'You have all been put in this class because it has been decided that you need it'. So true.
Oh, and the fangirls are fighting again. Lovely comparison between the sheer chaos of the fangirls battling each other and the complete calm of Paris and B'Elanna. I see B'Elanna has a lot of minis, too. (Also the: 'don't be gentle about it', HA!)
I had some more ideas, too:
1. Students vs some varient on the Kobayashi Maru test. Exam, perhaps?
2. Have you noticed how often in badfic the Sues/Stus make a bee-line straight for the biggest big bad they can (often the Borg, but not always) and win, just so they can show how powerful they are? Maybe later the fanbrats need a practical lesson in why that is a bad idea...
3. Star Trek is one of the few fandoms in which there are as many fanboys as fangirls. Imagine a class full of fanboys given the teacher of Seven or Uhura etc. Poor teacher, but probably even more poor fanboys.
Looking forward to more, as ever. Keep it up!
I already had some of those planned for the afternoon classes. Your first and second suggestions will be features of the class taught by the three captains. (Having all three trying to teach together is going to be…interesting) Deanna Troi's teaching a class, and Seven and the Borg Queen are co-teaching another class, which covers your third suggestion.
And yes, the winner for having the most minis in Star Trek is…B'Elanna Torres!
Oh, and I figured Janeway would be violently against Sues, especially Grrl Power!Sues. I've written a story called "Dear Fanfiction Writers" which is exactly what it sounds like, and Janeway expresses her distaste for Sues. Glad you enjoyed the chapter!
It's right here: Chapter Two: Enter Organizers
SC and I borrowed a page from OFUR and gave everyone a chapter focusing on how well (or... not so well) we handled processing the many, many fanbrat applications - and how much worse I am at babysitting keeping our staff in line. Chapter three will be the actual orientation - and some of our dear students are going to discover those new bodies they asked for aren't quite as easy to manage as they expected them to be... at least, not after a lifetime of being human!
Sadly, I don't know that much about Warcraft, but this is enjoyable reading regardless. Long, interesting and amusing... and I still can't wait for the mass shock, horror and general confusion of the fanbrat orientation, as well as any more amusing spellcasting etc. from the staff. I'm looking forward to reading more.
I've already started on chapter three - I couldn't wait to write some of the no-longer-human students' reactions to their new bodies!
Haven't read the full chapter yet, but I've been meaning to bring this up:
I've noticed that you have a habit of using hyphens where they're not needed, such as in "Horde- and Alliance decorations." That's actually wrong; you don't need a hyphen after "Horde," because "Alliance decorations" is neither a hyphenated nor a closed compound; it's just an adjective and a noun. You only hyphenate like that if you're dealing with multiple cases of compound adjectives with the same ending element, like so:
choral- and instrumental-music programs
five- to ten-minute intervals
Or when dealing with prefixes with a shared suffix:
over- and underfed cats.
Does that make sense? I'm never sure if I'm explaining these rules very well.
~Neshomeh, off to actually read the thing now.
I hadn't noticed that pattern before; it was a habit I picked up after seeing it done (the right way, not that I'd noticed) in school literature books and some of our assigned reading novels. But you're right, it doesn't really make sense to add those where they aren't needed...
Thankies, Neshomeh! -huggles?-
No problem. {= ) It's easy to get overzealous with new habits. I went through that with semi-colons in particular. They are so tempting, but so rarely actually needed. ^_^;
And I enjoyed the chapter overall, by the way, though some agreement should probably be reached between you and Specs about how to treat stuff like off-world artifacts. I got the impression from the author's notes that it's working differently for SC just because... well, because, which isn't really a good example to set for the students/readers. Maybe I'm mistaken, but discrepancies due to creative differences could get distracting if they keep cropping up, especially if they get advertized in author's notes to boot. {; P
The characters' reactions to the application forms were fun, though, and I can't wait to see what happens when the students show up. I figured you'd turn Lily's hobbit-lass into a gnome, and of course I'll be watching Pendos closely. I wonder how well his rogue class will serve him when the universe doesn't let him ignore the fact that he's a giant freaking humanoid bull with hooves. *g*
~Neshomeh
Yeah, I see what you mean. Initially, I had it worked out to me being pulled in unexpectedly, but that would have to go as well for Kitty if that were true, meaning she would have had to be suffering the same effects, and she quite clearly wasn't.
So, I'll keep that on tab as a mental note. Thanks for the point-out.
I'm still getting out of that same problem, although I feel like I'm getting a bit better... (Semi-colons get no love. Bahaha.)
There does feel like a bit of a clash in what each of us thinks should happen, mostly because, as you might have guessed, we didn't actually stop to nail down what we wanted to have happen in the chapter. We'll be sure to plan things out a bit more in the future. :D
Well, it only fits, considering she wanted to be a Hobbit with shaved feet! -totally innocent smile- And yes, Pendos will be fun to torment.
Educate. I meant educate. Did I say torment? Silly me...
It's the same thing in German, but we have way more hyphens.
I love the little critters and hate to see them neglected or mistreated. {= )
Hm, I've been under the impression that German mostly kinda sticks words together to make new (really long) words. Does it start with open compounds and then hyphenated compounds and then closed compounds, as tends to happen in English? (E.g. plot hole => plot-hole => plothole.)
~Neshomeh, who should've taken German lessons when she had the chance. Sigh.
Two words can be stuck together with a hyphen. These two words can be made up of more words, though.
*takes a deep breath* Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitänsmützenaufbewahrungsschubladenreiniger.
It seems like the English language isn't too much different from them in certain regards.
Spelling of words notwithstanding, of course. :D
I have a hideously bad habit of doing that in my own stories.
OFUA has a page on the wiki, should OFAS?
Do OFU updates count as things that can go on the "Latest Story Releases" side list on the Wiki's main page, or are they not related closely enough to count as PPC stories? I sort of feel like only chapters directly involving the PPC should even be considered, but I'm not sure...
(Bahaha, I am the PUBLICITY-MONGER. Cower.)
I should think only chapters directly involving the PPC - for example, Cyba's agents are going to visit OFAS.
I think we need another opinion, though.
But, at least between the two of us, can we agree that if one of us posts a new chapter, the other can hijack the thread for their new chapter?
As long as you're okay with it, too! :D
Stories that are not about the PPC are not PPC stories. So, no, I don't think OFU updates should go there.
However, they could probably go on the Current Events page and appropriate Year page(s), I think. They are sadly neglected and could use some attention. At the very least, it would be worth adding the start (and eventual end) dates of the OFUs. {= )
~Neshomeh, who thinks it would be cool if someone(s) other than her decided to become the custodian(s) to the aforementioned pages.
Although I will definitely add the publishing date of OFUA to the Current Events page. And would you like me to create pages for 2011, 2012, and 2013? I'd even be willing to watch over those three and keep 'em tidy, iff'n you'd like.
The Year pages, that is. Do you happen to know how complete the ones that exist are? If they're pretty much complete, I think the ones for 2011 and 2012, at least, shouldn't be too hard to make...
hS
They were always pretty sporadically edited at best, as I recall. Some people added stuff about their characters, most didn't. Are there parameters for what should be added to them? I might try to help, since I'm coming across all kinds of juicy data as I work on agent pages.
~Neshomeh
... though I'm not entirely sure, that I basically made them by searching the Wiki for the year and then putting in everything I found. :P
I mean, I figure it's a fairly common-sense-y thing. In the Real World, Gatherings and big canon releases go in. OFU start dates go in. Agent recruiting and leaving goes in.
Specific missions don't. Individual canon releases don't (though I see Dragonsblood is there in '05 - like I said, I think I just pulled it from the Wiki). Chapters of OFUs probably don't. Specific Boarders don't.
But big Board events do. Emergencies do. I'unno, it was all just a bit of a bodge-job.
(Disclaimer: Right now I'm fighting through the tail end of a university-level Astronomy course. You're not getting much out of me for a couple more weeks)
hS
Wow, we just started on it.
Well, I suppose a page for OFAS wouldn't hurt any.
Right here.
I'll go make my page, then.