The Official TFN Archive Thread: Jan update!

Well, then not everyone got the memo, because two different reviewers told me that they were not allowed to review the same story twice.

 

Thank you for the heads up.

 

After Gabri mentioned it earlier, I checked and sent myself an email, and I see it works that way. Is it possible, perhaps for the Archives to log the IP numbers of anonymous posters who send messages to authors or Archives staff? Because if it can do that, they could perhaps, at least, block incendiary posters?

 

Whoops, sorry, LP?DRL grabbed me this past week. Regarding your suggestion: Atty says she's not sure that's even possible without a major overhaul. We're more than willing to do that research and make whatever changes we can to make the situation better, but it's kind of a cost-benefit analysis at the moment. If our troll in question only sent a few nasty e-mails, then we're probably going to just ignore it and keep an eye out for him/her in the future, because it's a lot of work to look into and implement these sorts of changes. We do want to extend an apology to you and to VaderLVR for those e-mails?I saw that one you got, and it was definitely nasty. We're sorry you guys got any such trash via the Archive, and we hope the troll has gotten bored and moved along.

Once again, though: Everyone, please do let us know if you get any flames via the Archive's e-mail system! If this becomes a pervasive thing, we will absolutely look into ways to circumvent it.

 

Update, February 24, 2010

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As Star Wars has taught us, love can ignite the stars - yet even stars die, and no one is promised a happily ever after. For your reading pleasure this month, we spotlight several fics of love gone wrong.


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Lifespan by VA-Parky
Vader pays a late night visit to Padme's grave. One-shot.

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And the Stars Be Our Witness by Wendynat
A conversation with Qui-Gon Jinn the night before the Boonta Eve Classic leads to something that Shmi never expected.

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Selfish by Trickster_Jaina_Fel
?Maybe,? she finally began, ?the humour lies more in that the princess thought she might live a normal life.?

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In Memoriam by Nemesis
An Imperial soldier remembers the girl he loved.

Even relationships that lack a happily ever after often capture the imagination. Weigh in on which ultimately failed relationship you like best by voting in our new poll.

 

Haha, love the theme. Tis a stroke of genius. As is the corresponding poll. But Obi-Wan/Satine as an option? Why do you torment me so?

 

It is at that. And we torment because we love.

 

I used to want to do provisional acceptances when I worked in here. I used to do what ardavenport suggested when I was an editor *occasionally.*

It just didn't work out.

So I'm sorry you had problems. If we could do provisional acceptances, with the same people getting the fic back to reread, it probably wouldn't have been such a problem, ardavenport. At the time I was working, the general feeling I got was if you read it once, let somebody else get it next time so that the response would be more impartial. I know some people would resubmit and specifically ask that the same reviewer pick up that story again. You CAN do that, and it is OK. I know requests came in for Gabri a lot. I always wanted to do that, but I didn't feel comfortable asking, because Gabri was an editor at the time, and I wasn't.

Now, on occasion, a resubmit would come in and sit in the queue for a bit. Then I might take it, but I would always check that it was OK first. Then I'd pick it up. This was rare, because there was always a fresh pair of eyes willing to look at something, usually a pair of eyes that didn't even remember it got rejected the last time through.

OTOH, when I became editor and tried provisional acceptances, *most* of them went fine and the fic got in. I really enjoyed doing them. They were stories I really liked and I was really rooting for.

The times they didn't go fine, however, made me sorry I'd ever volunteered. And I as the "editor" didn't have a leg to stand on, because I have no professional credits, this is not a professional publication, and we here don't own anything. (And even if I had professional credits, it still wouldn't matter, because if a person wants to argue, they're gonna argue.) So if staff tries a provisional acceptance and the person is upset, things can tank pretty badly in a hurry. Hence the "no provisional acceptances" rule. It's a good rule, because it *protects the staff.*

Arguing and arguing and arguing and arguing with someone over their fic, which is exactly what these instances turned into, is just bad.

 

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmm, ya got me there ....what is the actual procedure for specifically asking for the same reviewer for a story that is being re-submitted?

As far as I can tell, re-submitting a story uses the exact same submissions page that is used for a new submission. You go to the submission page, fill in all the little circles and things on the menus and then upload the story. I did not see any boxes for author comments or requests for reviewers. Did I miss something?

If an author can request that the same reviewer take a re-submission, then this would quite negate many of my earlier complaints. But if requesting a specific reviewer is done by PM, and nothing about this is in the guidelines, then that would be a process that only some people know about and others do not. That would inevitably cause problems.

 

Or it could be taken as the sign of an involved author, that if they felt strongly enough to request the same reviewer again, they would take that extra step of contacting the reviewers and/or editors (and that option is clearly posted on the Archive front page) to make the request. You don't even have to know it's an "official" option; you can just hit "contact the reviewers" from the Archive or PM a staff member through the JC and say, "Hey, So-and-so reviewed this the last time and I'd like to see if he/she thinks I fixed the problems he/she noted the last time; would it be possible for him/her to claim my story again?" Another more common scenario is that an author who wishes a reviewer to claim a resubmitted story was engaged in a dialogue with that reviewer regarding the initial reasons for rejection, and either the author asked that reviewer then if such a thing was possible, or the reviewer volunteered the option.

Frankly, everything is inevitably going to cause a problem at some point. We cannot possibly lay out rules and guidelines for every possible scenario. Even if we tried, we would be guaranteed to miss quite a few things?and those rules and guidelines would be prohibitively long and precious few people would read them. I can tell you that it's very evident that the majority of submitting authors don't read the guidelines and rules we have right now. Our rules are very clear about immediate rejections for crossovers and unfinished stories, but we've gotten plenty of those submitted. Our allowed story content rating-wise is pretty clear, I'd say, yet we've gotten stories with foul language, explicit sex scenes, extreme violence, and at least one story I remember that was very obviously flat-out porn originally; the author had simply taken all the sex scenes out and left the lead-in. (Made for a confusing read, actually, because it was very clear what was supposed to happen next, but the story would jump somewhere entirely else. )

So here's the most basic guideline of all: If you don't see your concern addressed in the Archive guidelines, ask one of us. We'll answer you.

And for the record regarding this particular concern: Yes, you may request the same reviewers for a resubmission. We cannot guarantee that your request will be fulfilled because the reviewer in question may not have time to take the story, but it is permissible to make the request.

 

I think that for the majority of instances, the guideline of asking if one is uncertain about a matter is a fair one. But once again, I thank you for alerting us to that snafu so we can make sure all the staff are on the same page, and for your input regarding guidelines. We'll take your suggestion into consideration.

 

<shrug> That's fair.

 

Great to see the new fics in the update and...ooh! A poll!!

* goes off to vote *

 

Let's keep this polite, folks! Gabri and others have done a wonderful job of answering many, many, many concerns in a courteous and professional manner and they deserve the same respect in return.

 

Update, March 4, 2010

Welcome to March, everyone! We have a brand new story to kick off the month, so be sure to check it out!

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Something Lost by VaderLVR64
A TPM missing moment. Obi-Wan deals with the immediate aftermath of Qui-Gon's death.

If you haven't voted for your favorite failed relationship yet, there's still time! Our latest poll is still going strong, and some of those 'ships could use a little love.

 

Update April 1, 2010:

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Contrails by stapled_my_fedora
Luke Skywalker has been transported to earth during the late 1970's. Just when he thinks he's having a bad day, he learns a Sith is on his tail!

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The Abnormal Proliferation of Osteoblasts in the Frontal Bone: A Case Study by hilzarie
Making the right diagnosis isn't always easy.

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When Darkness Turns into Light by Gabri_Jade
Anakin Skywalker renounces the dark side of the Force and returns to the light. With the help of Padmé, Luke, Leia, and their friends, will Anakin be able to stop the Emperor Palpatine before Light becomes Darkness once more? Brought to you by Gabri_Jade,? author of "Perfectly Normal" and winner of the 2008 JC Fanfiction Award® for Best Canon Character Interpretation, Male,? this engrossing, 105,000 word epic will leave you breathless and wanting more!

We'd also like to give our readers a chance to express their feelings on George Lucas's recent cease and desist notice against Fanfiction.net. Vote now in our poll!

 

Hilarious! Thanks for the laughs!!

 

That is quite... quite brilliant.

 

Ahhh haha. I knew there was something missing from my day.

 

*facepalm*

Shenanigans

 

Update, April 17, 2010:

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This month marks the Archive's nine year anniversary. On this day in 2001, the Archive officially opened its doors with a staff of fifteen and with eleven fan fiction stories already archived.

Today we celebrate by remembering and thanking that original staff for the vision they had in creating this site, and for the immense labor they put into the project. Of those fifteen, three have left us with fic to enjoy.

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Autopilot by FernWithy, one of the founders of the site, and its first editor.
Anakin has a frightening experience during a test in his training.

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Fire and Darkness by ami-padme, who was on the first review staff.
Amidala's death, as Vader saw it.

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If I Don't Catch You by Julie, reviewer who later became an editor in June of 2001.
When events at the end of The Phantom Menace change, Anakin, Qui-gon and Obi-wan find themselves on a different -- and dangerous -- path to destiny.

When did you first discover Theforce.net's Fan Fiction Archive? Vote in our poll.

2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

 

Fire and Darkness was one of the first stories I read in the Archive!

I discovered the Archive in 2002, the year I registered. I found it through the boards, though I became very familiar with it through friends and acquaintance as my time and friendships increased. SUBMIT TO SUBMITTING!

 

I discovered it in 2002, too, and found the Archive several months before I found the boards. I don't remember what story I read first. Odds are good that it was L/M, though.

SUBMIT TO SUBMITTING!

You warm the cockles of my heart, recalcitrant one.

 

It's merely a quip.