On Mon, 16 Nov 1998, Matt Johnston wrote:

This bad boy is pretty long.  If it seems to wander, pleae forgive.  I'm
spouting, I guess...

No prob.  There are very legit points here.

On Mon, 16 Nov 1998, Jason Liao wrote:

Frankly, I and most of us are here to write things that we like, not to
garner complements.  Evidently, from the numerous crossovers, many people
happen to think Ranma and SM is fun material from which to base fanfics,
and who is anyone to say differently? If you believe that SMJ by itself is
great fanfic material, and want to see more SMJ fanfics, then spend your
ranting energy towards writing one, instead.  It helps both the diversity
and the spam problem. 

This list is like the music industry, really... you have two or three
major genres of fic/music, and a number of artists/writers write that
story because they enjoy it and it gets reactions.  Lesser-known series,
like Boku No Marie (my fav) or 801 TTS Airbats are going to get overlooked
because they don't have the known-commodity status of a Ranma or SM.

But let me ask you a question.  If you *did* see a Boku No Marie fic, or a
Airbats fic, wouldn't you read it?  It's hard to be motivated enough to
give C&C to fics when there's so many, but finding a fanfic that's *not*
Ranma and something you enjoy usually feels different.  I know that when I
see the few dribblets of Iczer fics that appear, I try my damn hardest to
find time to give C&C, so that the writer will write more.

Is there any TTS Airbat fanfics out there?  I know that if *I* saw one,
I'd try to get back to the author.  Loved the anime, and so much was left
open...

If you wrote a fic you were proud of, that you put a lot of work into,
lost sleep over, and posted it to the FFML, and didn't get a response, how
would you feel?  If you went to the FFML We'll Review Anything page and
saw that the reviewers ranged from Ranma-fics to SM-fics to AMG-fics,
where would you go?  How would you get a positive reaction?  Why, write a
Ranma fic, of course!

But this is silly.  So, for my hobby, I'm going to write something that
isn't my best?  Not something that I enjoy the most?  I write using Ranma
because I *like* Ranma.  I don't write using Sailor Moon because I don't
watch Sailor Moon.  Are you proposing that I start to use Usagi in my
fanfics?

And look at the first phrase here.  If I wrote a fic that I were most
*proud* of...

I think that there's more than one or two writers here writing for their
audience.

Perhaps.  That's the real question here, isn't it?  Why are we here?  To
write for others, or ourselves?  This activity is something that eats away
at free time like crazy, and doesn't give a cent in return.  The
beginnings of our works plead for the corperations not to slam us for
blatantly breaking a law.

To me, it makes little sense to go though this effort for something that
isn't what you wanted in the first place.

I feel bad that the cycle of reader/writer reactions has lead to a state
where people are afraid to invest time in anything that's not known.  If
more writers received more reaction from good indie fanfics, the cycle
could and would change.  I haven't seen any big reader uprising, though.

Well, of course not.  If only ten people (an extreme, here) know about
Iczer-1, then how can you expect the other hundreds of people to give a
useful or intellegent comment? 

But I'll bet at least five out of those ten respond to the author.


-Natsume Ranma Ranma
-------
The sardines weren't worth the trouble.  A few more shots, then 
Ryoga-san would overheat and explode.  Ducking around a corner, 
I managed to lose him as I entered the ramshackle residence of 
my Anime supplier.

One look at his face and I knew that I was betrayed.  "Tell me."
I insisted.  He refused, so I slammed him against the wall.
"Last chance.  Where can Ranma-Ranma find good fanfics?"
"Try Jason Liao." he whispered, before he slumped to the floor.
I heard the sounds of a door splintering as I left through the 
window, one step ahead of Tendo Heavy Industries...