The Etiquette of Abandoned Stories

FiMFiction is littered with stories marked CANCELED or ON HIATUS (and let's face it, the latter means the former so often that most readers see the two as synonymous within the realm of fanfic).  It's also littered with stories marked INCOMPLETE, which haven't updated since 2012.

There's absolutely nothing unexpected about any of that.  As long as fanfiction is a (nearly) zero-barrier-to-entry, (mostly) remuneration-free field, authors will get in over their heads, start something they don't know how to finish, or just run out of the time, energy, or interest needed to finish their stories.  Abandoned stories aren't a problem that needs to be fixed...

...But it sure would be nice if authors could all agree to a few simple bits of etiquette as regards them.  My suggestions, below the break.

Episode Talk: S5E5, Tanks for the Memories

I had a ton of stuff to do this weekend, and I did almost none of it.  I watched some hockey, it's true, and I finished some reading I needed to get done by Monday, but that was it.  Yard?  Nope.  Cleaning the living room?  Please.  Grocery shopping?  Eh, I can live off cans of stuff from the pantry for a few more days.

I did manage to make time to watch the new MLP episode, though!  Click down below the break for some thoughts on it, post-48-hour cooldown.

First Sentences in (Fan)Fiction the 5th

On Wednesday, the NHL playoffs suffered their first casualty, and the playoff/fanfic bracket lost its first story: Horse Voice's Biblical Monsters was swept in four games by My Little Dashie (or, if you prefer, Winnipeg was knocked out by Anaheim).  Once the first round is done I'll update you on second-round matchups (my plan was to only do end-of-round updates, and going forward it still is), but I thought I'd take a moment to acknowledge the only team/story this year that failed/will fail to win a single game.  Well, that's what you get for *mumble mumble*-ing *mumble mumble*, I guess!

With disastrous endings out of our way, though, let's talk about beginnings!  Hopefully not the disastrous kind, though I suppose there's only one way to find out.  My thoughts on the first sentences of some of the recent Fandom Classics, below the break.

Mini-Reviews Round 79

I don't normally pay much attention to Equestria Daily polls, but I want you all to know I'm very disappointed in this recent result:

Characters like Vinyl or Lyra topping the poll?  Sure, whatever, I get it--not everyone can have great taste.  But How does Carrot Top get only 0.63% of the vote?  How does she rank behind Berry Punch, aka "wine joke that the show will literally never make because it's for kids"?  How does she rank behind Flitter, aka "I think she's from Hurricane Fluttershy, maybe?"?  How does she rank behind Blossomforth, aka "...Wait, which one is she, I literally don't even know which background pony she is"?  Seriously, I just googled Blossomforth, and I still don't remember where she's from.

And she still beat Carrot Top in this stupid poll.  Fandom, you disappoint me.  Whatever; short-form reviews follow, enjoy it (if you're capable of appreciating good things, which barely 100 of you apparently are).

Fandom Classics Part 106: A Draconequus’ Guide to Immortality

To read the story, click the image or follow this link

Against my expectations, it turns out that a fair few of you do have some passing interest in hockey, at least when it's used as a vehicle for fanfic humor(ish-ness).  Keep an eye on this bit above the break--I'll irregularly update y'all on who's been eliminated over the next couple of months.  Fair warning, though: the bracket I larked up ends up giving best odds to some of the worst stories.  But I suppose that's as it should be--you ought to be upset when the Rangers win, after all!

Anyway, click down below the break for my totally non-hockey-related review of Argonmatrix's A Draconequus’ Guide to Immortality.

Something That Will Literally Only Interest Me

I'm sure I'm not breaking any news when I tell you that I'm a fan of MLP, and of fanfic thereof.  If you don't read the above-the-break blurbs with attention, though, you might not be aware that I'm also a bit of a hockey fan.  Well, the Stanley Cup Playoffs™® are finally upon us, and so I decided to do something that I thought would be fun, and that anyone who doesn't share both of those interests will probably find incomprehensible at best.  Click below the break for my Playoff Fanfic Analogues, and follow your favorite fanfic on its Cup run!