The Joys of Frivolity

[icarus]

Ah, frivolity how I love thee.

After sending off my final essay at -- (checks watch) -- 9am this morning, I declared this National Frivolous Day.

I would do nothing whatsoever useful. The schedule (as it worked out):

- nap
- bath
- curling up with with the afterburn of a hot slash story (I leave out the TMI)
- second bath
- listen to German metal at top volume
- create three books of my fics from 2004-2006: Harry Potter, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis

I like to have print collections of my stories, with a little table of contents, etc. It's something I never get around to though, since it's just for me.

Holy cow. Even with no margins, a space-saving serif font and no spaces between paragraphs -- these books were huge.

Harry Potter: 117 pages
Stargate SG-1: 93 pages
Stargate Atlantis (without Out Of Bounds since it's a WIP): 48 pages in six months??

I haven't printed them yet because I've a question for you given I've called a temporary moratorium on thinking:

These are mostly unrelated short stories. What order should they be?

(Stop laughing, I warned you this was frivolous.)

[Poll #744079]

You know what's funny? I didn't write any fanfic today because, somehow, I don't consider that frivolous anymore. *snorts*


ETA: can't fix typos in polls so... *facepalm*... just visualize "it" instead of "its." /facepalm

Comments

[auxphono.livejournal.com]

It's entries like these when I realize just how cool you are. ^_^

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I re-read my post. Stared at it a moment. Then thought, "Huh." I cannot find the coolness which probably means I will never actually be cool, save by accident.

My mother said that about one of my friends once. "One of the wonderful things about A. is that she'll never be cool."

Icarus

[20thcenturyvole.livejournal.com]

*glares* By fandom, starting with the earliest, and then ordered chronologically within the fandom.

Obviously.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I have them in separate books by fandom. But now -- chronologically by when I wrote them, or chronologically by when the story is set?

I've gone with ordering them by the season in which they were set for SG-1. With a decade's worth of seasons it makes sense, especially since my ties to SG-1 canon are always pretty strong. Besides, I didn't start writing SG-1 slash until season seven so I don't have any "future" fics that contradict canon. Much.

That doesn't quite work for SGA. First -- oh, the AUs and crackfics. Then also, only two seasons.

What also happens is I have future fics based in current canon (which is soon to be overridden). I've the problem with HP only with HP it's much worse since I usually "age up" the characters to dodge the "pedophilia" bullet. I write about things that I personally did when I was 15 but I write the HP characters as 17. When the next two books came out my characterization was based in the earlier books, while the ages were set in latter canon.

If I do SGA chronologically by when the story is set the order is:

Nowhere But Up (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/nowherebutup.html), set in Antarctica
Taking Stock (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/takingstock.html), right after the loss of Sumner
Breeding Ground (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/breedingground.html), set probably before Hide and Seek
Doo-Wop (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/doowop.html), a month after Sumner's death
First Christmas (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/firstchristmas.html), six months after their arrival
Pastoral Symphony (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/pastoralsymphony.html), before they hear of the Wraith ships coming
Remedial Basic (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/remedialbasic.html), right after The Storm
Last Port Of Call (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/lastportofcall.html), final two weeks before the Wraith attack
Not A Pretty Sight (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/notaprettysight.html), somewhere in that same time period (not uploaded yet)
About Ten Days Before The Wraith Attack (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/about10daysbeforethewraithattack.html), the title says it
Pavlovian (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/pavlovian.html), somewhere in the middle of season two
In The Spotlight (a.k.a. The Unicorn Remix) (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/inthespotlight.html), vaguely season two
Appalling Hurt/Comfort Fic (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/appalling.html), post-Trinity crack!fic
Traces Through Time (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/tracesthroughtime.html), somewhere in season two
Class A's (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/classas.html), far in the future, Rodney and Zelenka's Nobel prize
Double Bed (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/doublebed.html), based on ABLE
Colony Atlantis (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/colonyatlantis.html), Wraith done in, Atlantis open for colonization

In a way it creates a false narrative since these stories really don't follow or connect to each other. But it does lend some coherency if you were to read it straight through.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

If I put them in the order in which I wrote them, it would show not the development of the show but the development of my concepts of the characters:

Very early light-hearted stuff:
Breeding Ground (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/breedingground.html)
First Christmas (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/firstchristmas.html)

Working out the characters while SG-1 still lived in my head:
Nowhere But Up (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/nowherebutup.html)
Taking Stock (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/takingstock.html)
Doo-Wop (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/doowop.html)
Remedial Basic (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/remedialbasic.html)
Colony Atlantis (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/colonyatlantis.html)

Stories written after I watched season one, straight through:
Traces Through Time (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/tracesthroughtime.html)
Pastoral Symphony (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/pastoralsymphony.html)
Pavlovian (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/pavlovian.html)

Fanfic-influenced stuff while I watched season two:
In The Spotlight (a.k.a. The Unicorn Remix) (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/inthespotlight.html)
Appalling Hurt/Comfort Fic (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/appalling.html)
Class A's (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/classas.html)
Double Bed (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/doublebed.html)

Darker season two-influenced stories (by events in Micheal, Trinity, The Tower) even though they're set in season one:
Last Port Of Call (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/lastportofcall.html)
Not A Pretty Sight (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/notaprettysight.html)
About Ten Days Before The Wraith Attack (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/about10daysbeforethewraithattack.html)

It's a very different effect for the reader.

Icarus

[libitina]

I like the idea of setting the chronologically within the fandom. But then you finish Out of Bounds and where does it go?

I think they should absolutley be tagged somehow with the date they were written.

And you make a table of contents, so that takes care of the issue in the first choice.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Chronologically by date written or by when they're set?

Out Of Bounds will probably be in a separate book by itself. I did the same for Beg Me For It and Primer To The Dark Arts.

Yes on the ToC, indeed.

Icarus

[libitina]

by when they are set. It's actually not a system I would have thought of on my own, but I am rather charmed by the system now that you have mentioned it

[theemdash]

I worked on a thesis, organizing stories is not frivolous.

If there weren't many stories, I would recommend chronology. But there are many stories, so I recommend choosing what is best for that fandom.

I think most of your SG-1 stories are Jack/Daniel, so perhaps sorting by season would work best. SGA might do better if you sorted by when you wrote them since you've got AU mixed in. Harry Potter, perhaps by pairing.

I also recommend looking at the stories themetically. What happens when you read this very happy story right after this really angsty one? How do the stories speak to each other?

Obviously I'm a CRW nerd, so I think about these things too much.

And now you have me wanting to do this. Except I'm nervous about having printed slash around.

[theemdash]

And please ignore my pre-caffeine typoes. *headdesk*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Harry Potter is the most difficult. My pairings are all over the map, often only one story for a particular pairing (Percy/Dumbledore anyone?), and I've a tonne of "future fics" whose characterisation (and facts) were jossed by later books.

I'm tempted to organise HP by which was the operative canon, GoF, OotP, or HBP. Which still doesn't break it down enough.

Icarus

[theemdash]

I almost suggested "canon" and "AU." *snort* Sometimes I have to remind myself that ALL fic is technically AU.

Um... breaking it down by book would probably be best. Argh. It's so hard when so much has been jossed.

(btw-the term "jossed": I love it.)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

"Jossed" is the greatest. It's so clear.

For HP I also have a huge collection of drabbles and I could separate those from the bigger stories in their own section.

Icarus

[theemdash]

That's a good idea.

If I had as many HP stories as you have, I would probably separate them by "throw away" fics and fics that I really spent time crafting and writing.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ah, a nerd after my own heart.

I think most of your SG-1 stories are Jack/Daniel, so perhaps sorting by season would work best.

Agreed. They're all Jack/Daniel, or Jack and Daniel Gen. Plus I wrote them while looking backward over canon so I've no "future" fics that were jossed in later seasons.

SGA - here's the order I wrote them.

Very early light-hearted stuff:
Breeding Ground (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/breedingground.html)
First Christmas (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/firstchristmas.html)

Working out the characters while SG-1 still lived in my head:
Nowhere But Up (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/nowherebutup.html)
Taking Stock (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/takingstock.html)
Doo-Wop (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/doowop.html)
Remedial Basic (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/remedialbasic.html)
Colony Atlantis (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/colonyatlantis.html)

Stories written after I watched season one, straight through:
Traces Through Time (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/tracesthroughtime.html)
Pastoral Symphony (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/pastoralsymphony.html)
Pavlovian (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/pavlovian.html)

Fanfic-influenced stuff while I watched season two:
In The Spotlight (a.k.a. The Unicorn Remix) (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/inthespotlight.html)
Appalling Hurt/Comfort Fic (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/appalling.html)
Class A's (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/classas.html)
Double Bed (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/doublebed.html)

Darker season two-influenced stories (by events in Micheal, Trinity, The Tower) even though they're set in season one:
Last Port Of Call (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/lastportofcall.html)
About Ten Days Before The Wraith Attack (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/about10daysbeforethewraithattack.html)
Not A Pretty Sight (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/notaprettysight.html)

*squints* Does that work at all? Out Of Bounds will probably get a separate book when it's complete.

Icarus

[theemdash]

Ah, a nerd after my own heart.

Yes, I've been a geek for a long time, but the nerd is also strong with me. ;)

Agreed. They're all Jack/Daniel, or Jack and Daniel Gen. Plus I wrote them while looking backward over canon so I've no "future" fics that were jossed in later seasons.

Since I actually have the intention of one day finishing and returning to my Slash Tag Series (which I refuse to post any where as an actual series, since the stories are independent), I've often wondered why I would recommend reading them. I wouldn't recommend chronology and this is why: It's boring. The relationship goes up, the relationship goes down, the relationship goes up. Yay. But what if when it's up, you know it's going down. What if you know this happy moment is going to come back and bite Jack in the ass? Or if you know that Daniel shouldn't worry about this because later on everything is explained?

I love how stories can inform other stories just by being read in a certain order.

/nerd

I have no idea how to advise you on SGA. None. I am so useful.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, chronology doesn't trace an up and down trend in relationships for me. But what happens is I get clusters of a particular mood: the light-hearted almost-smarm Fools Can Dream was written at the same time as the comic bad!sex For The Petulant Gods. So contrast between the stories is lost -- until my next mood switch, when the next batch of stories will be radically different.

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The other possible chronology for SGA is here, by canon event (http://icarusancalion.livejournal.com/508650.html?thread=6455786#t6455786).

Icarus

[theemdash]

Canon event sounds good if there's nothing else that makes sense.

I'm totally against alphabetizing, btw.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'm totally against alphabetizing, btw

Cool. Good to eliminate one option.

I may have to go with canon event in the SGA book. It really words for the early stuff but from season two on the connection to canon gets a little... unhinged.

I don't like chronology. Even in LJ it requires a little explanatory note for each section and my stories end up clustered by mood: two or three dark stories followed a couple silly ones, etc.

Canon it is I suppose.

Icarus

[tjstein.livejournal.com]

Speaking only for HP, I like the idea of chronologically but not by book. 6th year student stories could be grouped together rather than having them in separate sections depending on when they were written makes more sense to me. Or perhaps simpler categories such as Pre-Hogwarts, at Hogwarts, Post-Hogwarts, etc

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

That's a thought. The problem with that is that I've been writing since GoF, I've "aged up" the characters, and I've written future stories based on past canon if that makes sense.

So for example, Cursed Artefacts For Sale is based on and adult Harry. But the canon the characterisation draws on is GoF. Primer to the Dark Arts is set in 7th year yet the canon it draws on is obviously GoF, right down to Sirius and Dumbledore both being alive.

Icarus

[tjstein.livejournal.com]

I still think that it could work. Fiction Alley has a good example (http://forums.fictionalley.org/park/forumdisplay.php?s=affe09c01b597dcaf4cd0f156f9a2a9b&forumid=16) of what I meant. I wouldn't think that you'd need such detailed categories, but as long as you have an indication at the beginning of the story as to what books it's based on, you're golden.

[trobadora]

I can't speak for anyone else of course, but the only sorting that's of any use to me is by pairing.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

That's how I have it on my site, but for SGA and SG-1 it's not helpful: all my stories are John/Rodney or Jack/Daniel respectively.

For HP my pairings are all over the map, often with only one drabble for a particular pairing. So things become more disorganised rather than less.

Plus, this goes on my own shelf. I know the pairing just from the title. I need a structure though because in the previous book I created I've had a hell of a time navigating through it. It worked better with the separate books for Primer to the Dark Arts and Beg Me For It.

Icarus

[trobadora]

Well, things on my bookshelf (that aren't numbered parts of a series) wind up in an order that is intuitive for me and utterly useless for anyone else, whereas for fanfic I save everything into pairing folders and keep separate indices by tite, author, and a few idiosyncratic categories (not quite up to date, unfortunately - it's a lot of work!). Which is to say, er, with whatever makes finding things easiest? But maybe the trick isn't in the order itself but in the index.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

But maybe the trick isn't in the order itself but in the index.

Ah! *points* True.

I've done three books before, one for Primer to the Dark Arts, one for Beg Me For It, and a third for my collected short stories from Nov 2002 - 2003. The collected short stories didn't have a ToC and it's driven me crazy. I organized them by rating largely, starting with G and moving smoothly to NC-17. The book is useless without the ToC.

My Buddhist book collection? Is by year in which the subject is studied at the monastic college, with a separate couple of shelves for "life stories" that don't fit the format. As for everything else, well, good luck figuring why I put what, where.

Icarus

[trobadora]

Without a table of contents? That does sound like a horror. At least you'll know better this time! ;-)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The key is: what are my aims for the "Icarus short story anthologies"? ;) It's for me, but also it's easier to get WG to read my stuff if it's in print and he can curl up in the bedroom to read it. In that case I have to consider what would make sense to him.

*wracks brain*

Icarus

[whimseywisp.livejournal.com]

And then, of course, alphabetize within pairings ;).

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Now I am just anal enough to do that.

Icarus

[h-oserheidi.livejournal.com]

hey amiga.
i know, i'm sorry i just ran away. i was really really cracked out on after final adrenaline and i didn't know to wait for you.
so i went and looked at my pots in the ceramics studio.
well, i don't want to lose touch, we should do coffee someday.
do you still have my number? i don't have yours. it was displayed as "new call" on my cell phone.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

How did the pots come out? And the Capt. Ahab dinner setting?

Oh yeah, my phone's blocked. Let me email it and my voicemail number -- with the caveat that you'll probably reach me easier online than via phone. I'm dial-up and always have it plugged in, so it's hard to reach me via a telephone that's unplugged.

I was still reviewing my work on the exam about three minutes after Gillian called time. Realized I didn't follow directions exactly on the quotes (forgot to name the speaker and context) so quickly added that in. Man, you have no idea how many stupid mistakes I avert by double-checking my work.

Now we'll wait and see if my not freaking out about my exams is going to cost me.

I think I'm going to write a letter about Angela. Yes, she's a little short in the organization department, but a damned dedicated T.A. who taught me an awful lot on her own time. I think the dedicated ones should be encouraged.

Icarus