User: obama_2008 (posted by sarahpolk) Date: 2009-07-14 01:21 Subject: Rachel Re: Sarah-Nara Security: Public

[I don't watch Rachel Maddow or even MSNBC as much now as I did before the election, but I found myself riveted to a little editorial Maddow read on her show this evening regarding Sarah Palin's recent resignation. Since I have a Comcast DVR, I was able to pause and rewind endlessly while I transcribed the following (which I bet she has at her site, but oh well, it's still good enough to share).]

Rachel Re: Sarah-Nara

by Rachel Maddow (as broadcast on her show on Monday, July 13, 2009)

And in American politics whose name is not Barack Obama or Michelle Obama is, of course, Sarah Palin--like it or not. I realized this weekend that it was not even yet a year ago when I, as a panelist on the late-lamented show, "Race for the White House," brought up Sarah Palin and the Troopergate investigation as almost a side-bar, human-interesty distraction from our daily speculation on who would be the Vice Presidential choices of senators McCain and Obama. I thought at the time that Troopergate probably was enough of an ethical question mark over the governor of Alaska to keep her out of any serious contention as John McCain's vice presidential pick. Three and a half weeks later, she WAS McCain's vice presidential pick, and I was wrong--BIG TIME--which of course is an occupational hazard of the predicting-the-future part of the pundit job.

But as Governor Palin's life was turned into the most amazing show on cable over these past 11 months--through the presidential campaign and the tumultuous months for her since then--it turns out now that it actually has been the ethical question marks in her life, and the basic problems in handling elected office appropriately, that seem to have brought her career as a public official to an end.

Sarah Palin announced she was resigning as Alaska governor on the Friday before the July Fourth holiday weekend. It was a move that surprised everyone thought to be close to the governor's political thinking. And frankly, it surprised everyone who knows anything about politics. And that's because the thing that you do when you're eying a race for president, is you won't seek ANOTHER term as governor; see, for example, Tim Polenti. You don't announce that you're quitting in the middle of your first term when your only other experience is being the mayor of a small town.

That Politics 101 truism, and frankly, that verbose, frenetic, disorganized nature of her resignation statement itself, and the many, many interviews she has done since then, are why the governor's resignation has only heightened the already extreme fascination with her.

What's the real reason she's resigning? Is there a major new Palin scandal about to break that she's trying to get out ahead of? Is this some politically advanced shrewd move for the presidency that's too clever for Politics 101 students to grasp? What role does she want in Republican politics in the future, and will she get to play that role?

In a landmark of Palintology published in today's New York Times ("Palin's Long March to a Short-Notice Resignation"), some of those questions are now answered.

Bottom line: She resigned because her governorship in Alaska has turned into a disaster. Leaving office was not a shrewd move by somebody picking a better political option among a range of political choices available to her. It was a jump off the political cliff to avoid being pushed off that cliff.

Among the chief causes of her downfall: She was unable to stop herself from picking fights with her critics, and from responding when critics picked fights with her.

When David Letterman made an ill-advised joke about the governor's daughter, Governor Palin tried to stoke an ongoing feud with him by accusing him of advancing the sexual exploitation of girls by older men. A Republican state legislator in Alaska then called Palin's bluff on that, saying, "If she were really so concerned about that issue, she should fully fund anti-sexual abuse programs in Alaska." Palin responded by asking state public safety officials to issue a statement praising her polities about reducing sexual assaults on children. How's that for a good use of state employees' time?

The governor's official press office also put out official press releases denouncing Alaska bloggers who had accused her of ethical missteps. She had lawyers and her political action committee threaten legal action against people who spoke out again her on daytime cable television.

The governor's official press office put out multiple press statements denouncing her daughter's 19-year-old ex-boyfriend--which of course made him a hotter ticket than ever for interview opportunities to talk trash about his almost mother-in-law.

That lack of self-control and of boundaries between the personal and the political and the petty is the flaw that had drawn her into earlier ethics scandals like Troopergate. You remember Troopergate. That was where a state legislature had found that she had abused her office by firing the public safety commissioner who wouldn't fire her brother-in-law. And that one was even before she got picked to run for vice president.

It has been an incredible year of watching Sarah Palin. And we should all know better than to suggest that we know what she's going to do next--me in particular. But waht is now able to be reported about the catastrophic unraveling of her govenorship, tells us what this isn't. There isn't an exotic political scheme for even a higher office here. There isn't a dramatic shoe waiting to drop in some new criminal investigation. This isn't even about how Sarah Palin's life has changed since she has been subject to the national spotlight. Sarah Palin's career as an elected official is now over because of a proven inability to govern.

A thin skin about criticism, distorted priorities that result from having that thin skin, and an inability to judge the difference between what bugs her as a person, and what's an appropriate use of an elected official's time, and the public's resources.

Governor Palin will be a private citizen again by the end of next week. Who knows what untold millions await in her book contract, and the inevitable broadcasting deal or professional conservative show job. She may well continue to be the most entertaining Republican on the planet by a mile.

But she will not be an elected official again.

And after the disaster of her governorship in Alaska, I would guess she will not ever risk that fate by ever running again.

That said, if you're a fan of the Democratic Party, pray that I'm wrong--again.

[Cross-posted to my own LJ.]

User: fanficrants (posted by immortalje) Date: 2009-07-14 09:18 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public Mood: bitchy Music: Queen - I Want It All | Powered by Last.fm

What is it with perfectly fine, especially really original, stories going sour from one chapter to another? They either suddenly have a chapter that's so confusing that I simply can't get through it or go so far beyond anything believable (to me at least) that I can just shake my head and close the window! I hate it when that happens to stories that I actually enjoyed reading until that moment, stories that held me captive and made me sit on the edge of my chair, hoping that there is just one more chapter available already.

It's not as if they all use the same plot device either - sometimes it's things that just seem too much to be possible (e.g. trunks in the Harry Potter fandom that contain so many rooms that it might as well be an entire house as if magic didn't have a limit) or flashback after flashback that make me wonder how they fit into the story or the n-th setback/drama in a row just as the previous was about to calm down and about to be resolved. It's not just bound to one fandom either.

I guess the point at which you just can't read on is YMMV, but it's not so much about what makes me stop reading... it just frustrates me that a fic I loved is going into a direction I just can't follow coupled with annoyance about the recent frequency with which that happens. I can't really bring myself to enjoy reading fic if nearly every fic I read is either abandoned (or it's been ages since the last update) or just reaches a point that just makes me go WTF.

User: fanficrants (posted by wheatcakes) Date: 2009-07-13 22:46 Subject: Brief accent rant Security: Public Mood: annoyed

Super Smash Brothers fandom:

I-a know-a he-a has-a an-a Italian-a accent-a, but-a when-a you-a make-a Mario-a talk-a like-a this-a, it-a gets-a fucking-a annoying-a.


It hurt my brain to type just that sentence.

No love,
Me.

User: fanficrants (posted by cat_77) Date: 2009-07-13 23:17 Subject: Just to Note: Security: Public

If your pimp post for your latest fic is so full of formatting changes and randomness that I can't even tell where the link to the fic is, I'm probably not going to take the time to look for it and click it, no matter how awesome you claim it to be. Then again, maybe I was as distracted by the typos as I was by the font and color changes...

User: fanficrants (posted by pastel_moon) Date: 2009-07-14 13:16 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

To FFXII writer -

Writing down a journal passage word for word from the game does not constitute a chapter. Not even for the prologue of your story. Everyone knows what was said in that passage so you do not need to re-write it.

User: fanficrants (posted by avid_slacker) Date: 2009-07-13 19:51 Subject: Fandom Fashion Faux Pas Security: Public

( Please step out of the wayback machine )

User: fanficrants (posted by biocaam) Date: 2009-07-13 22:18 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

When Character A is bitten by a poisonous snake, I doubt that their first priority will be getting into Character B's pants.

And when Character A eventually does get into Character B's pants, the fact that the snake bite is magically cured is jarring, to say the least.
 

User:	fanficrants (posted by freya_sacksen)
Date:	2009-07-14 13:36
Subject:	(no subject)
Security:	Public

This is my first rant so, um, when you bust out the snarkiness of snark snark, give me time to put on a helmet and armor first, please?

( Oi! You! Whose Line fandom! )

ETA: Edited to make more sense. Gah.

User: fanficrants (posted by 000_hester_000) Date: 2009-07-13 19:53 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Oh lord. I know I'm being nitpicky, especially since plenty of published authors seem to ignore this, but it's starting to bother me.

All right. A lot of popular fandoms (for instance, Harry Potter springs to mind) follow a group of characters from the time they're tweens to when they're young adults. And lots of people in these fandoms write lots of ship!fic and lots of lemons. Okay. That's fine so far.

But I do wish that people would remember-- especially when they're writing a fic that has a multitude of pairings-- that people don't all hit puberty at once. And the younger everybody is when you set your fic? The less likely it is that everybody is sexually mature. Sure, plenty of them will be. But plenty won't. I feel like I'm being YMMV, but you really ought to consider that before writing that everybody is having sex with everybody else and their mom little sister. --To me, it comes across fake in the same sort of way as the fics where everyone is gay.

Consider the following: Adolescence? Covers a fairly long stretch of time. I had a lot of friends who got their periods in grade school. Personally, I didn't get mine until I was sixteen. I didn't start being more than very vaguely interested in sex until years after my best friend lost her virginity.

Or tl;dr: Harry and Draco's balls most likely didn't drop at the exact same moment. And certainly not at the same moment as Ron's, Seamus', Neville's, Crabbe and Goyle's, and everybody else I'm forgetting's.

User: fanficrants (posted by krynnmeridia) Date: 2009-07-13 20:33 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Dear fanthing,

It does not matter how funny you think it is. Light Yagami's last name is not and never will be 'Imagay'.

Care to explain why you used that to refer to him in your otherwise-serious fic?

User: friends_icons (posted by peculiargroove) Date: 2009-07-14 00:40 Subject: Titanic / Jen Aniston Icons Security: Public Mood: envious Music: reflecting light - sam phillips

001 - 089 Titanic (1997)
090 - 102 Jennifer Aniston

TEASE:



You can find all the icons HERE @ notasweicons

User: fanficrants (posted by zer05ive) Date: 2009-07-13 18:27 Subject: YMMV, but... Security: Public

...If both characters in a sex scene are young men with black hair, I really don't think "the black-haired boy" is the best epithet to use. I'm assuming she meant the younger of the two, but the situation was written in such an ambiguous way that I'm still not sure who it was.

User: fanficrants (posted by ansela_jonla) Date: 2009-07-14 00:13 Subject: Bleach fandom, a word about nicknames please. Security: Public

1) Can we please stop with the Sues that call Hitsugaya 'Shirou-chan'? IIRC, only one person in canon calls him that, and he doesn't exactly show much appreciation for it. (YMMV as to whether or not his protests are real or just for show.)

2) Also, can some of you please sort your romanisation out? It's Toushirou or Toshiro. Not Toushiro or Toshirou. And whichever one you choose, can you please stick with it, not only for Hitsugaya, but for all the other characters who have the same issue with their names.

3) Yama-jii is a similarly reserved nickname. Not everyone can get away with walking up to Yamamoto and calling him that. Kyouraku gets away with it because Yamamoto lets him. Ichigo call him 'jii-san' because he's Ichigo and therefore doesn't use the correct honorific unless he wants to.

4) Speaking of Ichigo, the way he refers to people is not the way that your supposedly rank-and-file Sue should. If I see one more Sue wandering around Seireitei calling Byakuya and Kenpachi, or anyone else who outranks her and isn't a close friend, by their given names, I will scream.

5) Ken-chan is a nickname to be used only by Yachiru. I wouldn't like to imagine the retribution that would be forthcoming if anyone else used that name. The same goes for any other nickname given by Yachiru, for that matter. Seeing a Sue walking around using names like 'Feathers', 'Pachinko Head', 'Byakushi' etc makes my brain hurt. YMMV, but I don't think anyone but Yachiru would get away with those names anyway.

User: fanficrants (posted by innosancta) Date: 2009-07-13 17:42 Subject: Dear Sukisho Self Inserts... Security: Public

If it's an ALL BOYS SCHOOL, no matter if you are the Headmaster's daughter, you sure as hell aren't going to be going to that school** or sleeping around with/sleeping in the bed with boys you or your father don't know well. Not only that, if the characters are canonically in love*, they aren't going to auto fall for you because you have "beautiful, bouncy golden curls" and you "smell like cherry blossoms".


Also, as a side rant, am I the only one who fumes with self inserts who are "long lost sibling/lover/friend" that is just out of the blue? No matter how good it's written, I tend to avoid those.

*These inserts were stemming from the anime, not the game.
**I have since been proven wrong with some interesting facts. :P

User: fanficrants (posted by greeneyedlady) Date: 2009-07-13 15:40 Subject: The blond, the older boy, and the Swede walk into a bar... Security: Public Location: in my chair Mood: complacent Music: "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" by the Beatles

This is a little mini-rant that I already posted in my personal journal a while ago, but I thought would be appropriate to post it here. The subject is something that a lot of fanfic writers do, so I don't want it to sound like an attack. It is far from the worst thing an author could do and some otherwise great stories contain it.

I am talking about epithets, when, in an attempt to avoid repetitive use of a character's name or character confusion in pronouns, authors will refer to characters with phrases like, "the older boy," or "the blond." It took me a long time to get over my fear of using characters' names multiple times, and if anyone reads my older stories there a epithets all over the place. So really, I am in no place to admonish those who use them.

But I am very happy I have outgrown using them in my fanfiction. When reading fanfiction, or any fiction really, I find epithets much more awkward, tedious even, than reading the character's name more than once. Also, it has sunk into my head that the POV character isn't likely going to think of somebody that they know as "the blond" or "the older boy."

Zeroing in on a specific fandom, one thing I frequently see in Hetalia fanfiction is the character's nationality used as an epithet. When I see this in AU fics, it's just like any other epithet, tedious, but not a deal-breaker. When I see it fics that are not AU, however, it kind of makes me go "Huh?" If it isn't an AU, Sweden is the Kingdom of Sweden, not one of its citizens. Does that make sense? Seeing him referred to as "the Swede" in a non-AU fic makes him sound like one guy from Sweden, not the whole nation, its culture, its history, and its government.

As a footnote I have to add that I do not think I am just such a great fanfic writer and don't make mistakes or word things awkwardly. I am merely describing one problem that I am grateful to have largely overcome. Every little lesson learned I hope makes me a better fanfic writer.

User: fanficrants (posted by empressmaude) Date: 2009-07-13 13:23 Subject: It's okay, it's not -real- sex! Security: Public

( Cut for rant on this subject )

User: fanficrants (posted by snowdevil_crow) Date: 2009-07-13 12:18 Subject: This is a tiny, tiny pet peeve of mine... Security: Public

I understand it's very easy to get this wrong (I did, myself, for quite a long while), as it's only shown once, in Turn Eight of R2, and previous to that people probably got used to whatever their chosen fansubs used, but... Euphemia li Britannia's nickname is spelled E-U-P-H-Y. Not "Euphie" or "Yuffie" --- "Euphy".

/small, nitpicky, kind of YMMV issue that nevertheless bugs me.

[edit because for some reason livejournal didn't let my chosen icon work at first...]

User: fanficrants (posted by chickenperson52) Date: 2009-07-13 14:07 Subject: Bashing is a fail. Security: Public

Dear Sailor Moon xover authors...

Please stop bashing Mamoru just so you can hook Usagi up with other characters from the crossed-over fandom. Mamoru, for all his faults, isn't an abusive jerk-off who beats women for fun.

User: fanficrants (posted by chasingtides) Date: 2009-07-13 12:41 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

My dear beta,

I don't know where you learned English, but I think most of my teachers would have your head. I can't. Write a fic like this. Those are called sentence fragments.

I know I have the tendency toward long, multi-clause sentences in my writing. Perhaps you thought I was overindulging. However, then you should tell me. You should not just randomly replace my commas and semicolons with periods. When you do that, it's crappy grammar and doesn't make sense.

(Really, if you think that's good, why are you a beta?)

This was a couple months ago, but I'm still annoyed and hoping you're not betaing for anyone whose grasp of English grammar is worse than mine.

No love,
Your writer

User: fanficrants (posted by cat63) Date: 2009-07-13 17:25 Subject: Little grammar things that make me grumpy Security: Public

Unless you're writing dialogue for someone from an area like parts of the South West of England, where the past tense of every verb is constructed with "ed" and they think Lynne Truss is a village in Dorset, then the past tense of "grind" is "ground". Not "grinded".

Also, if you're talking about a single member of the X-Men, then he'd be "an X-Man" [1], not "an X-Men".


[1] Even if it's Jean Grey, presumably, although that doesn't apply in this case anyway.


Edited to fix my HTML fail

User: fanficrants (posted by ladysugarquill) Date: 2009-07-13 12:10 Subject: On hair colour and descriptions. Security: Public Mood: annoyed Music: HP the Musical - Not Alone

Dear ficwriters, good and bad alike,

Just because two characters have the same hair colour doesn't mean they look like sisters.  Nor that one of them'll look at the other and think she's looking at a mirror.

No, not even if that colour is red.

kthxbye

(This wasn't a case of Identical Grandson, these characters are, blood-wise, completely unrelated.)

Edited for a missing letter.

User: fanficrants (posted by justgwenhwyfar) Date: 2009-07-13 07:17 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

User: xmenevolution (posted by flareonfury) Date: 2009-07-13 09:11 Subject: Fic: Tabitha to the Rescue (X-men: Evo, Scott/Tabitha, PG-13) Security: Public

Title: Tabitha to the Rescue
Fandom: X-Men: Evolution
Pairings: Cyclops/Boom Boom
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: Future/AUish.
Summary: You know what they say... misery loves company.
Notes: Written for my 40 Days of Drabbles for the prompt Scott/Tabitha. Also written for 15pairings prompt misery loves company. This fic is dedicated to ologyist, who had written the first Tabott fic I read and because of her I became a fan and set out to write this pairing when an idea struck me.
[ ...Table... ]

( tabitha to the rescue........ )

User: fanficrants (posted by lysythe) Date: 2009-07-13 20:16 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

Okay, so different scanlations can romanise Japanese names differently (eg: Ohtori Kyouya/Ootori Kyoya, etc), so I can understand if different ficcers write names differently.

RANT 1:

Stick to one romanisation in your fic. I'm going cross-eyed reading Kyouya, Kyoya, Hani, Hunny, Honey everywhere in the same fic.

RANT 2:

If the mangaka presents the romanisation of the name in the manga itself (letter jacket, etc) or otherwise in an illustration that would appear in the published volume, I don't expect to see alternative spellings, especially if the manga in question ended its run over ten years ago. Raaargh.

(Minor note: no Ouran characters were, to my knowledge, victims of this. They very kindly volunteered to be examples.)