The Yamaku Library - The fan fiction archive -23/09/14

[Mirage_GSM]

Well, it begins as a prequel, but we can put both.

[TacticalBacon]

I can't find a good story with lilly as the main POV. :/

Also, it would be easier if you would list it by pairings instead of by title

ex;

Random title here
hisao x hanako

Some cool foreign words to make the title sound deep
hisao x hanako

pun about the main pair's disability
hisao x hanako


Instead of

A rin epilogue
hisao x rin

A story about an idealized version of me
OC x Emi

Avada kedavra
Harry potter x Shizune


It gets a bit dodgey to use in mobile because we don't have ctrl+f there. I personally think it would be easier to navigate that way. Again, it's just a suggestion. I see a lot of cool stuff that can be added to this thread

[Helbereth]

Can we please stop requesting changes to the organization method? Think of how much raw information is already on the list, and how long it would take to reorganize it, then remember that the people doing it are already being extremely good-natured in providing the service at all. Instead of searching through a hundred pages looking for a poorly noted fiction written three years ago, they're all slowly being pooled together in one place for our convenience.

So, maybe you have to sit down with a laptop, or a desktop, or whatever else to find the specific objects of your obsession. It's better than spending countless hours refreshing and backtracking through a disorganized smorgasbord of fictions, finding the wrong story, and losing track of where you were looking. Alphabetically by title is just the simplest method of listing them, and the associated information is provided so that you can run a search when available--you can then write down the title to look it up on your phone, tablet, or whatever else you kids are using later.

TL:DR
Y'all should be thanking the unpaid authors of this list for providing its wondrous, time-saving organization, rather than complaining about the way things are listed.

I really am the old codger sitting in his rocking chair yelling at the neighborhood kids for no apparent reason...

[TacticalBacon]

rather than complaining about the way things are listed.]

>>>

Again, it's just a suggestion

[Comrade]

Comrades, I see you guys are having fun.
I wanted to discuss what do you think is the best way to sort one shot compilation. Currently we have stories that are in the same collection as one entry with multiple titles, and I want to see if there's any better ideas before I make it official

[Helbereth]

rather than complaining about the way things are listed.]

>>>

Again, it's just a suggestion

It's a persistent issue being harped on by numerous commenters (including myself to some extent) which is why I didn't quote anyone--I meant no offense.

Comrades, I see you guys are having fun.
I wanted to discuss what do you think is the best way to sort one shot compilation. Currently we have stories that are in the same collection as one entry with multiple titles, and I want to see if there's any better ideas before I make it official

Might I suggest listing them like you do concurrent stories. All of Hoitash's tales, for instance, are listed under the H&K title. So, using that as a model, you could create a listing for the compilation with links to each internal short, and group them together.

In the meantime, I looked up a few unlisted gems that I think should be included:
The Haunting: A Love Story

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[b][url=http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=6440]The Haunting: A Love Story[/url][/b] – by [b]Merumegu[/b] (ongoing (abandoned?), 56,500 words)
[b]PoV: [/b] Hisao; [b]Pairings: [/b]Hisao x Shizune[b]Begins: [/b]During Act 2
[b]Remarks: [/b]Character death, paranormal, OCs, incomplete

The Manly Pick-Me-Up

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[b][url=http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=6561]The Manly Pick-Me-Up[/url][/b] Epilogue – by [b]lolawesome[/b] (completed, 1262 words)
[b]PoV: [/b] Kenji; [b]Pairings: [/b]Hisao x Hanako[b]Begins: [/b]Post Hanako bad end
[b]Remarks: [/b]open-ending

An Afternoon Wasted

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[b][url=http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=3355]An Afternoon Wasted[/url][/b] Epilogue – by [b]WetCrate[/b] (completed, 3740 words)
[b]PoV: [/b] Hisao; [b]Pairings: [/b]Hisao x Rin[b]Begins: [/b]Post Rin good end
[b]Remarks: [/b]erotic (no sex)

A Bowl of Noodles, a Cup of Coffee, a Mug of Beer

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[b][url=http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=5881#p87463]A Bowl of Noodles, a Cup of Coffee, a Mug of Beer[/url][/b] Prologue – by [b]themocaw[/b] (completed, 4975 words)
[b]PoV: [/b] OC, Nurse, Mutou (sequentially); [b]Pairings: [/b]none[b]Begins: [/b]~4 years before Act 1
[b]Remarks: [/b]drama

[Mirage_GSM]

Might I suggest listing them like you do concurrent stories. All of Hoitash's tales, for instance, are listed under the H&K title. So, using that as a model, you could create a listing for the compilation with links to each internal short, and group them together.

All of Hotash's stories are not under the same entry. The H&K entry is just for stories that share the same continuity - his USM stories will get a seperate entry.
In the same manner Blackwaltz's "Waiting" might share an entry with his "Eminako" series, but I don't see any reason to group all shorts in one entry just because they share a thread. In some cases that would be equivalent to sorting by author...
Besides in most cases the same information is not applicable to all stories in a thread. They might have different narrators and different pairings. The only case where this is not a problem is stories sharing the same continuity.

Really what's the difference between a short having it's own thread and one that shares one with a few others? The important thing is that the link goes to the story in question.

[Helbereth]

Really what's the difference between a short having it's own thread and one that shares one with a few others? The important thing is that the link goes to the story in question.

Well, okay, I was a tad inaccurate, but the point I was trying to make stands. I have a thread here somewhere (I lost track of it) that contains seven separate stories (it might be six), each under 500 words. If they were to be listed on the archive, I'd rather see them grouped under one header with links to each story, instead of each getting its own complete listing. There are at least a dozen such threads floating around, and it would simplify the list, I think. That might just be my preference, though.

[Mirage_GSM]

As the thread is currently organized it's not really possible, though.
The list is sorted by the title of the story. If a thread contains more than one story and all are in one entry, by which title should the entry be sorted? The first? The longest?
and it still doesn't solve the problem that the stories might have different narrators etc.
Putting each story individually is really the only practical option I see.

[ProfAllister]

All of this discussion about how the archive is organised and whether certain things should be consolidated seems to tie back to one key point - this archive doesn't seem to have a clear(ly stated) purpose.

The obvious solution is to look at the archive and try to determine what value it adds. In other words, why is it superior to the forum itself?

I can come up with a few answers, but this isn't an exhaustive list:

- It is consistent. The forums shift whenever someone responds to a thread.
- It contains useful information that cannot be practically included in a thread title (viewpoint, pairings, length, etc.).
- It is easily searchable. The forum search too isn't bad per se, but it certainly isn't good, either.

What we're looking at here is an index. As such, it has two key uses:

Reference - If, when commenting on another thread, a poster mentions, say, "Pearly Whites," anyone can refer to this index, scroll down to the "P" section, and find the appropriate link. While the forum software is sufficient for many stories, it won't be easy to find all of them, especially when the title is a common word or phrase. As a matter of fact,w e already have some degree of confusion with a one-shot and a series using the same title ("Waiting"). It also may be difficult to find stories by name when they're contained in a one-shot collection.

Specific Tastes - With a simple text search, readers can jump to prologues, epilogues, fics that focus on one particular character, or a few other common categories. It will take a little effort, but it's more consistently organised than the forums at large.

So why alphabetical over anything else?

Alphabetical is inherently unbiased. As someone pointed out, they could write a story entitled "Aardvark" and get it on the top of the index (until someone writes "AAA-Sponsored Fic - Stranded on the Roadside (Hisao x Kenji x Hideaki x Ikuno x OC)), but that's missing the point. You can (theoretically) legally change your name to Aaaaaaaaaaaasmith to get to the front of the phone book, but that's missing the point of a phone book. (Historical note: Phone books were large tomes that listed phone numbers for people you didn't know or care about. Before cell phones and the internet, it was necessary to refer to such tomes if you were unable to memorise the phone number of someone you knew.)

Why not sort by focus? Or pairing? Or one of several other categories?

The phrasing of this question makes an obvious point of itself - there are many different formats, and only one can be chosen. You aren't going to please everyone. And these aren't necessarily as unbiased as they might seem at first. On top of that, they would require judgment calls that simply aren't required in alphabetical organisation. For example, intelligent people might disagree on whether "It All Makes sense In The End" should be considered "Hisao x Misha" as opposed to "None" (Side note: The Great And Powerful Archivist may want to consider including "Major Characters" as a category). Were the stories organised by pairing, a dilligent reader might assume the story had not been archived, because it wasn't in "Hisao x Misha." And what of more complex pairings? If a story's pairings was something like "Hisao x Emi, Hisao x Rin, Hisao x Kenji, Hisao x fleshlight, Hisao x a tree that kinda looked like Lilly, Hisao x Rin's daughter, Hisao x Rin's granddaughter, Nomiya x Othello, Miki x Shizune, Hanako x Lezard x Taro, OC x OC, Shub-niggurath x Emi, Misha x Byakhee x Monkey D. Luffy x Alphonse Elric x Birdramon, American-Born Reincarnation of Hitler x Hanako," where would that most appropriately be filed?

In short, the archive is sorted alphabetically because it's practical and unbiased. Also because it's what The Great And Powerful Archivist decided and this isn't a democracy.

[dewelar]

(Side note: The Great And Powerful Archivist may want to consider including "Major Characters" as a category).

This has merit as a concept, but might be too subjective to be feasible.

[Helbereth]

I basically agree with everything ProfAllister said, but I want to point something out:

Miki x Shizune

Does this exist anywhere? It sounds awesome... Maybe if I weren't concentrating on other things...

[ProfAllister]

I basically agree with everything ProfAllister said, but I want to point something out:

Miki x Shizune

Does this exist anywhere? It sounds awesome... Maybe if I weren't concentrating on other things...

Doesn't exist to my knowledge, hencemy slipping it in in the middle of everything else. A bit of an Easter Egg, I guess.

Also, realised that I failed to mention another bit - on the subject of serialised one-shots (i.e., a series of one-shots that maintain some degree of continuity). It makes sense for them to "sort of" break the strict rule of alphabetisation because, in many cases, the only distinction between serialised one-shots and a single consolidated story thread is the placement of the posts. Scattering the pieces alphabetically would make about as much sense as chopping Tomorrow's Doom into its 41 separate chapters and seeding them throughout the entire archive based on the chapter titles. So consolidating them into a single entry based on continuity seems to be a reasonable compromise.

[TacticalBacon]

-I meant no offense.

None taken

[Helbereth]

Scattering the pieces alphabetically would make about as much sense as chopping Tomorrow's Doom into its 41 separate chapters and seeding them throughout the entire archive based on the chapter titles.

Now I have the idea of organizing my chapters alphabetically to see how the story goes... Looking at the spread, it appears to start as they return from the beach, and it gets erotic by chapter three... Interesting.