solarcat

I know it's simply an artifact of a simpler time on the internet, but am I the only one who gets blindsided by fics that use the old system of fic-length measurement?

Because, okay, there is a BIG difference between the following:

200KB

200k


Can you all see the difference?

The difference is about 175,000 words of content, give or take.

I guess my annoyance comes from the fact that a fic is, to me, an investment. I choose to invest in THIS fic experience over THAT fic experience on the basis of factors X, Y, and Z. Maybe X (the fandom/pairing) is the same, but Y (the genre/trope) is different. So I pick the Y I am interested in at the moment. Easy! But if X and Y are the same, I am wildly more likely to pick THIS over THAT because THIS has a Z (wordcount) of 200,000, while THAT has a Z of 30,000.

Both, in this case, are awesomely long, which makes them full of win (I will NEVER knock a 30k story for being too short!!). But when I'm out looking for that big Z, the massive, super-epic fic, it's something of a disappointment to realize that you've misread the old system (200KB) for the new system (200k). And it doesn't even matter the quality of the fic! It could be the greatest fic in the universe! I will STILL be disappointed, because my EXPECTATION in terms of wordcount was much, much higher than what I actually got.


Which is why, my dear friends, I ask you to be careful when labeling fic recs. Sometimes the author has used the old system. Maybe it's an older fic. Maybe they're just used to the KB system instead of the k=thousand system. Whatever, it's all good.

But for the love of jeebus, PLEASE don't just label a "KB" story with: (number)~K

/Public Service Announcement

<--This icon is too happy for this post. But Arthur is too adorable to replace with something ranty-er. >.>;;

Warning: This is me, getting my rant on. That said... I probably won't be spewing vitriol or anything. I suppose this is more of a "moderately dissatisfied grumble" than a rant, really... >.> Anyway, no offense meant to any parties in particular--I speak in the general, mostly because I am too lazy to research the "guilty" parties and name them by name. XD (And also because naming names just pisses people off, and that isn't the goal. The goal is to rant until I feel better, at which time I will rejoin fandom as my happy, cheerful, porn-writing self. =3 )


( Merlin and the Art of Name Mashups )

Ahem. Well, I feel better now. =)

Feel free to comment. Feel free to tell me I'm a nitpicky, easily-annoyed dumbass and that you all hate my guts now. (Well, I'd prefer if you didn't, but I'm not gonna stop you.) I have a new episode to watch, and then some promising-looking fics to read. >.>

(It occurs to me to add, because I don't believe I've ever made it known, that if a post of mine is public, and tagged with *public post, then you're free to link to it or direct anyone to it to your heart's content. So that goes for this post, and any other *public post entries. ^^ )

ETA: *ahem* Welcome, all ye metafandomers! Nice to see you all. Rest assured that I appreciate your comments, and I am trying to keep up with them as well as I can. Please be gentle, it's my first time. ;)