The Library Anniversarie Collection

[brythain]

Come on guys, it wasn't that good.

Well, I do think that it was the best of the four anniversary pieces...

maybe i should put this in the first post of the library...

I don't think that would be a good idea. The library is supposed to be an index not a repository itself.
Besides it's supposed to be above all impartial. Giving a story about itself an extra platform would be like taking a bribe

Och, aye, that's true. Maybe not a good idea then!

[Mahorfeus]

Thank you, I'll take 'sweet' and acknowledge that it could have been better!

Oh no, it was great. Any fic can be "better," after all. I agree with Mirage - I was just being facetious with that first part.

Also, the time pair o' docs you're talking about must be Mutou as 10th Doctor and Kenji as 4th Doctor.

This on the other hand, was almost physically painful to read. Took me a few seconds way too long for me to get.

[AntonSlavik020]

That was a lot of fun. I've always wondered how characters would react to fanfiction about them. I liked all the references to various fics, it's definitely the most interesting of the fics.

[brythain]

Thank you, I'll take 'sweet' and acknowledge that it could have been better!

Oh no, it was great. Any fic can be "better," after all. I agree with Mirage - I was just being facetious with that first part.

I was just being facetious with my bad punning, so we're even!

That was a lot of fun. I've always wondered how characters would react to fanfiction about them. I liked all the references to various fics, it's definitely the most interesting of the fics.

I'm glad you liked it. When I first got here, I was struck by the above-average bar that fanfic writers here seemed to set. I lurked for a long while, afraid to join in!

[Leaty]

I just saw this. Don't know how I missed it till now.

Hmm. ‘Mean Time to Breakdown’ — apparently an incomplete sequence in which Hisao Nakai abandons his girlfriend to a life of eternal suffering.

Well, that's the weirdest plot synopsis I think I'll ever read of my fic.

Really enjoyed this. There's probably certain references that I'm missing, but as somebody who's hovered around these boards a while, it was a delight to read. Thank you for writing it!

[brythain]

I just saw this. Don't know how I missed it till now.

Hmm. ‘Mean Time to Breakdown’ — apparently an incomplete sequence in which Hisao Nakai abandons his girlfriend to a life of eternal suffering.

Well, that's the weirdest plot synopsis I think I'll ever read of my fic.

Actually, I was a little worried you might be upset at this tongue-in-cheek Hideaki 'summary judgement'.

Really enjoyed this. There's probably certain references that I'm missing, but as somebody who's hovered around these boards a while, it was a delight to read. Thank you for writing it!

It was a genuine pleasure, and I'm glad that one of my favourite writers had the delight of it!

[Serviam]

Welp, there goes the Fourth Wall. That's all that needs to be said.

[brythain]

Instead of creating a new thread, I thought of reviving this one. After all, the anniversary of our somewhat moribund library is on 25 August; it will be two years old by then. I wonder if anyone is taking over the Library thread, since I haven't seen its owners (Comrade, mainly, and Sea, to some extent) for a while. Some people have already thought of that, and would probably volunteer, if this were to be appropriately permitted and negotiated.

Regardless, it's an institution that was helpful, and shouldn't be lost. I'm thinking of writing something to celebrate its 2nd year, and in the spirit of hope for the future. Two weeks and a bit more...

[dewelar]

I've thought about this on and off. The library was something I was quite interested in when it was being established, and I considered volunteering to be the Librarian, but both Comrade and Mirage beat me to it. I think it's a useful tool, but obviously a lot less useful than it was when someone was actively updating it. Once I've finished Developments and then decompressed a bit, I'd be willing to at least take over doing the upkeep on it, if not necessarily the actual gathering of data.

[Blank Mage]

Obviously I can't exactly nominate people, but I feel like you're pretty damn qualified, Bry. But if any of you can give me edit privileges for the early posts, I can at least help out.

I wonder if the sheer volume of fic doesn't warrant a new system of categorization. I mean, should one shot threads be added as individual items or as a whole? Do we include horribly written train wrecks in the library? (We all know at least one.) And if not, do we really have the moral authority to separate wheat from chaff?

[brythain]

Obviously I can't exactly nominate people, but I feel like you're pretty damn qualified, Bry. But if any of you can give me edit privileges for the early posts, I can at least help out.

I wonder if the sheer volume of fic doesn't warrant a new system of categorization. I mean, should one shot threads be added as individual items or as a whole? Do we include horribly written train wrecks in the library? (We all know at least one.) And if not, do we really have the moral authority to separate wheat from chaff?

I think we should just put everything in, with appropriate and upgraded classifications/categorizations. I'd think of people like dewelar, Leaty, and Mirage_GSM for various relevant qualities, and there are a number more who could likely do the job as well. Plenty of talent around!

[dewelar]

Obviously I can't exactly nominate people, but I feel like you're pretty damn qualified, Bry. But if any of you can give me edit privileges for the early posts, I can at least help out.

I wonder if the sheer volume of fic doesn't warrant a new system of categorization. I mean, should one shot threads be added as individual items or as a whole? Do we include horribly written train wrecks in the library? (We all know at least one.) And if not, do we really have the moral authority to separate wheat from chaff?

I think we should just put everything in, with appropriate and upgraded classifications/categorizations. I'd think of people like dewelar, Leaty, and Mirage_GSM for various relevant qualities, and there are a number more who could likely do the job as well. Plenty of talent around!

Well, per the discussion that created the YL, we're not allowed to exclude anything, or we'll be 'cooked. I'm trying to find the original thread that led to its creation, but so far without success.

[brythain]

Well, per the discussion that created the YL, we're not allowed to exclude anything, or we'll be 'cooked. I'm trying to find the original thread that led to its creation, but so far without success.

Actually, if some of us could by brute force (and maybe squeezing our nostrils shut at times) format the data for everything in the Fan Fiction section, with proper annotation/classification/categorization worked out, then we could start the process in advance. So here's another thing: how would we want to upgrade the current data format for library entries?

[Blank Mage]

We could outsource the library to a Google document. It would allow for sorting by things like author or length, character PoV or even a few tags. It loses some of the impact, though, to just post a link on page one and leave it at that. Unless we, like, frame the link nicely with ASCII art?

Recommendations would be a good way to easily discern the really heavy hitters on the thread, and allow newcomers to see at a glance where the must-read fics are. Again, it seems unfair to promote that kind of atmosphere, but I think fics deserve to be represented appropriately, damn it! As it stands, picking out a fic from the list is a total shot in the dark. A nice thought, but not very practical.

Summaries. Proper summaries! Like with commentary! Under the present system, Developments and After the Dream would both be described as 'Lilly Bad End continuation, rotating PoV'.

[Mirage_GSM]

As for giving editing privileges, I think SC is somehow able to make someone's posts magically (?) belong to someone else, so short of granting mod status to someone (which is not likely) that would be the way to go.
I also said I'd be willing to take up the post if there is sufficient interest in the forum to revive this thread. Getting close to the finish line with the translation as well, so will probably soon have more time on my hands again.

Comrade and I had some thorough discussions on what and what not to include in the individual entries. Mainly the info should be:
a) helpful for choosing a story that might interest someone
b) objective and
c) unambiguous (or as unambiguous as possible)

Changing the format of the entries now would be a lot of work - depends on what kind of changes you had in mind...

As for choosing which fanfics to include, cataloguing every trash story posted here would be detrimental to the first goal on that list. SC explicitly forbade ranking the stories in any way, but I chose only to create entries for stories that I thought would be worth reading myself. Of course I also included all submissions from others regardless of my personal opinion of that story.

I do have an Excel file which includes most of the information contained in the entries - as well as a few more stories I didn't create entries for, but it's been some time since I last updated it, so it's probably missing all recent stories. I plan to update it soonish, though, and if you choose someone else to take over the library, I'll be happy to support them.