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Can't remember where I saw it, either, sorry.

I like the additions. They make things clearer. {= )

As of Boosette's ETA 7, our presence has been noted. Having followed the link provided for our benefit, I fail to see the point. Yes, there are other people talking about their various opinions of Mary-Sues out there. Some of them are us. Can we please stop making vague references to teh Intarwebz and draw some kind of concise, meaningful, well-supported conclusion now? Please?

That said, do you think linking her to our part in the discussion would help? If so, please do!

~Neshomeh

If I write AU for sci-fi stories (I'm working on a Star Trek one just now), I always want to use the "many worlds theory" as a scientific-ish way to justify changing things. It's such fun.

After all, we read a story to read the story, not be interrupted by pointless chatter.

When writing my fanfics, there has only been one time that I really, really needed to say something about an event in the story that couldn't be squeezed into narrative or put in the chapter's opening notes (because it would have spoiled things) - so I put it in the end. If she doesn't absolutely need to tell us something at that exact point - not before, not after - then maybe there's a case for it. Otherwise, bah.

Expanded, hmm? I must go and read it again. :)

As for sending her the link... do it if you like, but I don't expect anything good will come of it. Then again, it's your livejournal; I'm sure you can block her if she gets too nasty. Or her friends do.

I seem to have a different taste than you do. Anyway, here are the Twilight fanfics I read that I found worthwhile - either because they made the existing (not-so-good) canon better or just because they appealed to my sense of humour:

Rosalie's Revenge - Probably the best story I've seen, very long and very well-written, set almost entirely in the 1930s. I love it - much, much, much more than any of the canon novels.

The Souvenir - Short but good, for a "meet a historical figure" challenge.

Climate Change and its sequal, A Climate I Enjoy are fairly good pieces focusing on the characters of Jasper and Alice - if you're something of a romantic (like me, I admit), it's quite good.

Losing Your Way - A Halloween ghost story that's nicely done (not a thriller or action, I'm afraid, but still good).


Now the funny ones:

Brotherhood - This is, without a doubt, the funniest story I've ever read, perhaps in any fandom. It's great but, to get the full impact of the humour, you need to know the films The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and the works of Shakespeare fairly well (though Shakespeare less so, because the humour involving his work doesn't need context to be understood). If you know them, you'll cry laughing, really.

Notes - Much less intelligent than Brotherhood, and not exceedingly well-written (and also rather out-of-character, though in the case of this fandom I suspect you don't much care), but pretty funny nonetheless.

That Darn Emmett - Also funny, but also not in overly sophisticated way.


Most things by the author Eowyn77 are good. I particularly like a series of three stories in which she fleshed out the very background characters of the Denali vampires, starting with Fair Game (the follow-up stories are more written for humour than character expansion, but I still laughed.)

She's also written Pilgrim, which was for that same "meet a historical figure" challenge, and Priority Client, which I highly recommend, as it's a clever (and slightly nerve-wracking) point-of-view piece from the perspective of the Mr Jenks who forges false passports for the family.


There's also the author whitereflections12, who writes fairly good family fluff pieces.



And... now I look like a Twilight fan. Hmph. Oh, well.

Alternate Continuity does seem to make more sense for a divergent timeline, but as Sedri said, it's probably too late to change the course of fan terminology by now.

If it helps, I think I know where Alternate Universe came from: the theory that every choice has multiple outcomes, each of which branches off from the main timeline into multiple alternate timelines, is known as the Many Worlds Theory because each alternate timeline is a separate universe, although they may look the same superficially. So, an Alternate Universe fic is a fic set in one of those split-off universes, which is similar to but separate from the original canon universe after that splitting point. Hence, Alternate Universe.

Terry Pratchett describes this phenomenon as the Trousers of Time. Strange, potentially paradoxical things happen if you accidentally go down the wrong pant leg.

~Neshomeh

It sounds like something somebody used in one story for some plot reason and which never came up again. Weird.

But I know (despite not wanting to know - stupid steel-trap memory...) that "THX-1138" is a series of numbers George Lucas always tries to slip into his movies, so I imagine that if other continua had similar strings of relevant numbers (or letters), they'd be included.

Actually, wait - the last letters are the author's initials. Look:
Harry Potter: GNZ-4138-209-JR - J. (K.) Rowling
Star Wars: THX-1138-525-GL - George Lucas
Batman: FJÆ-4432-120-BK - No idea, but I'll bet "BK" is some original creator's name.

As for the numbers... I only know Harry Potter well enough to guess, but it looks like they're fairly random. The only thing you might do is match up the numbers to the letters on a telephone dial and see if they make any relevant words (JKR did that in book five herself, I believe).

I think most people (at least in my fanfic circles) do. But, there is definitely a difference and if we could go back and change the way fanfic terminology grew, I'd rather like to use your two types instead. Sadly, it's too late now; no one would understand.

In short, the Greek Muses were minor goddesses/spirits who inspired art and music and poetry. The term has come to be used by writers as meaning the source of their creative ability; if your Muse is feeling lazy, nothing gets done. Some people play on it and add that tf she's indulged with extra viewings of her(/your) favourite show or book, she can be bribed into giving more inspiration. Chocolate also works. Some people say they have multiple Muses - sometimes one for each fandom, or one for writing and one for painting, or whatever.

Long version of the original Greek stories are here.

Hope that helps. :)

I've never heard the term "Alternate Continuity" before. Strangely, now that I have heard it, I'd completely switch the distinctions that you have there. Yes, I know that a "Universe" is bigger than a "Continuity", but it seems to me like an AC story would be how you have described AU.

What are they? I've heard people saying, "I'm writing with my muse." all the time, but I don't really know their proper definition.

Help, anyone?

~X.B.

I haven't seen them used in a story, at least not for a while. Isn't the continuum in question usually just named?

but I personally use AU for both types of story. The distinction you draw between the two types is a useful one, but not one that I've seen used so far.

E.g. most people I've seen would describe a Boromir!Lives or the Fellowship actually getting over Caradhras as an AU, even though they fit your "AC" definition of following canon up to a given point and then diverging.

What're they used for?

Something I saw recently reminded me; I've always mentally differentiated between AU and AC, or Alternate Continuity. In my mind, Alternate Universe fic is set somewhere completely different and all that's in common with canon is the characters, while alternate continuity stories run identically to canon until point X, when they start being different. ACs tend to get created retroactively when sequels come out.

Anyway, I thought I picked this up somewhere, but I can't thing where, so I was wondering whether anyone else had ever heard of the terms being used like that. Thoughts?

Ahh, I see. I've always wanted to try those tabletop games, but I've never had the chance. Someday, right?

Sick, yep, and also the whole age-rate was sick; hence the seven(not teen, but I'm sure that was a typo)/eighteen thing. What I liked was the voice.

You know there actually are people who like Twilight in the capacity of a) Mind candy, b) Guilty pleasures, or c) Snark bait, right? And who aren't psycho.

However, defense of strangers aside, thank you very much.

NESH! You're still active! Good for you! I comment here only because you're the first name I recognized that might have a chance of remembering me....


I miss you guys and hate my life for making me so busy....I'd love to be 16 again....



~E.N.

Mind if I borrow that? (points to her most recent post)

An expanded version of my already expansive reply can be found here:

http://community.livejournal.com/the_ppc/52523.html

Muahahaha.

I'm strongly tempted to send her the link.

I will probably be on the east coast this summer, so I just might be able to make it. Possibly.

-- Beetle, existing in lurkerdom

I actually found the part with the urine drinking far less disturbing than the multiple sex scenes.

That last part probably qualifies, especially if it was on the Pit since that's explicitly against the rules. I might have left the extraneous info alone, but it's hardly my call.