![]() Hey there:) I'm a young 20-something in California with a love of humour, culture, foreign languages, martial arts (EPAK baby!!!), dancing, fitness, Ranma & Rumiko Takahashi, manga, art, drawing, writing, editing, graphic design, outdoor adventures, learning, South Park, The Daily Show...and the list goes on:) I'm mainly on here to review and read stories, especially Ranma 1/2 stories:) I'm an avid reader and writer, though I tend to write and draw my own stories with my own characters, despite my love of many, many years of fanfiction. I started reading Ranma fanfiction--and often more of a variety than Ranma back in the day--waaaaay back. I remember waiting in anticipation for J. Austin Wilde to update his fics and waiting forever for Waters Under Earth...only to be so sad by the end! I was reading fanfiction in early middle school and back then, most people didn't know what anime was because Pokemon hadn't hit the scene yet. I completely stopped reading fanfiction for a couple of years, actually, and was surprised that some stories I used to think would never finish or update did and some are still where they left off or pretty close, like Hearts of Ice...man! I've had an urge to review stories for a looong time and I finally can't help myself. I'm pretty decent at critiquing and have been asked to edit and critique several people's works in writing classes. Sometimes I make mistakes like most humans, but I tend to be very good at catching spelling and grammar errors. Oh, and Japanese errors:) I majored in Japanese at my university, along with Asian studies, and studied it for 5 years before college. I should be better at it, then, huh:) I sometimes let certain grammar issues slide, but every once in awhile, certain things bug me. I can be pretty picky, too. Recently, I've noticed a trend to misuse punctuation within quotes. It's not horrible and mostly only stands out in good stories when the rest of the grammar and punctuation in the story is decent or great. It's the use of a period instead of a comma! I keep seeing it in these great stories and I don't get it! Or, the person capitalizes the word after the quote that should include a comma when they shouldn't. Example: "I read a book today," he said. That example is correct! It shouldn't look different unless the guy is asking or exclaiming. I keep seeing this, though: "I read a book today." He said. That isn't correct!!! Please stop it:) Another thing bugging me in some great stories is a misuse of punctuation, namely exclamation points, in the narration. This gives the author too much voice and it often can be jarring, especially when the author has kept his/ her voice out of the story for the most part. I realize the author is trying to find a way to bring out the scenario and really make what they're writing exciting, but that's all going with the idea that the reader isn't smart and can't picture or figure out what is going on without the author spoon-feeding them everything. I prefer the author treat me, the reader, as a smart person and just write the narration. If the scene is going to be funny, it can be funny without adding an exclamation point or lots of random capitalizations. If the story is in first person or the author's voice is apparent the whole time, the punctuation can change...but please don't go overboard with it! The story should be about the story, not about how the author writes. The writing should become invisible. Does that make sense? One more Ranma Japanese nitpick: kawaii=cute. kawaikunai/ kawaikunee (slang version; masculine) is uncute/ not cute. Please notice the difference with the letter "I." Also, a common mistake in Ranma fanfiction (well, probably more places, too, but this word plays a big role in the Ranma world): fiance. Technically, fiance is for the male and fiancee is for the female, not the other way around. If a person uses "fiance" for both, fine, but when they flip them or use "fiancee" for both, well, that's just weird. And the accent goes over the first e, accent aigu, not accent grave. On that note, I really look forward to contributing more, saving favourites and proofing any stories if any authors feel inclined (pweese?). I can be a harsh pre-reader, though, just to warn you:):):) Maybe I'll post something someday. We'll see:) ~~~darlinglauren |
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