because its fascinating to think about

Life, Work, and Everything

I feel deeply moody today. Not quite emo--more popcorn and hot chocolate in bed while reading Dan Savage and old fandom wank wanks while I mull the universe. I never consider this particularly healthy--any period of time burning through snark comms en masse feels like the mental equivalent of eating a lot, lot, lot of sugar. I always come out of it faintly cynical and oversensitized to stupidity.

Argh. I can't even write. My head's filled with functions and cout statements and pointers and I gave myself a headache reworking one of my own programs into All Classes, All the Time.



I keep thinking in terms of addresses and databases searches and if I could build an array-based static search engine for my website for practice. Which would be a lot of work for little return--who on earth would use it? Why?--but it's an intriguing theoretical problem. Of course, I have no idea how to use C++ with a web interface, but I think I can translate it to Perl or Javascript if I got that far.

It's almost a controlled outcome experiment in how other people think; I want to see if I can anticipate by keyword what they'd look for in a way that is deeply inflexible; it would basically be a very complex non-random game of rock, paper, scissors--given ten keywords for them to choose to describe the story, did I guess it correctly?

I have never felt more boring. It's actually worse than that; I'm no longer restricting my random programming questions to people who, say, know what I'm talking about. No, I throw it out at anyone in range.


I think the problem is, I'm unhappy, but I'm not sure why. I mean, not in a life-sucks sense, but in a dopamine deprivation sense. And a tired sense. And a frustration sense. And a non-writing sense. I can't--settle on a single thought. Even knowing this happens pretty regularly--like the ADD version of writer's block, but instead of nothing being there, it's like a bottleneck of too much so nothing comes through--it's irritating.

So instead. Something else.

Here, In this Place

dalaire asks here:

Why in the world does someone wander onto a fanfic site on a rec and click into the last chapter of the fanfic first? Do they expect to understand more about the entire plot by getting clued in on the ending? In an A/U? o_0

My answer below the cut from her lj, expanded.



1.) I've read the story already and the ending gives a quicker refresher of events to see if I'm in the mood to re-read it--in other words, is this the story that was awesome and made me happy or awesome and made me cry? This is a big thing with OTP authors who write like, six supernovels or an OTP (or fandom) with a lot of novels or supernovels. Like HP? I've read enough that when I'm reading for mood, I have to double check adn make sure, yes, this isn't the one where x character actually dies tragically right after the wedding.

2.) I don't entirely trust the author's summary or (if applicable) warnings. One used to have a bad habit of dropping a torture scene into the middle of a fic, randomly. Or another pairing, really randomly. Or character bashing. *Really randomly*. Or--you get the idea. If I'm in the mood for it, yes, but if I was reading OTP only happy, and the author is known for several types, even pairing codes and warnings aren't enough.

This one makes me laugh--except for pairing switch, I am this kind of author. Part of it is just carelessness, but the actual start point of my warning carelessness is the fact I don't post anywhere but my webpage and livejournal. Lists--I never would have dreamed of skipping pairing codes, spoiler codes, warnings, ratings--but that was when I was sending my fic to someone else's house. In my own house, I'm lazy. I leave chips open on the couch, my socks on the floor, and don't format my headers.

Actually, I think the only thing I warn for is for pairing--my flist is not necessarily single-pairing, but most of them have been reading here for like, over a hundred years and while no, I don't specifically clean the house, I do try to warn them if I move the couch around (or change pairings) so they'll, you know, keep visiting.

And to be fair--I don't warn on Crimes Against Humanity at all because really. The name alone is a pretty good warning.

3.) The really cool part is in the last chapter. *G*


So I'm curious now--anyone else jump to the end of a fic? When and why?

ETA: Also, naps. I need to nap less. Naps do not help. They just make me melancholy.

Comments

[forked.livejournal.com]

I do it really, really rarely with fanfic. I did it more with fic where it's really long and posted all on a single page- recall a fair number of X-files fic like that. Anyway- I could see how long I had to go to the end, and I'd kind of skim. Which- isn't quite jumping to the end. But sorta. And I'm way less likely to do it with chaptered fic- don't ask me why.

Also- if I get partway through and it's kind of boring, I'll start skipping ahead.

I skip to the end more with pro-fic. I try REALLY HARD not to- but I still do it sometimes. Mostly if I'm tired, know I can't finish the book before I go to bed, and am dying to catch a hint of how it's all going to come together. So usually- it's a compliment. Unless I really don't like the story and don't plan on reading the whole thing and just want to see how it ends to get it over with. I'm thinking Eragon was the last one I disliked and ended up skipping to the end. It sucked. ;)