The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is a now-famous tradition from ancient times that has been a huge part of Mexican Culture through the centuries. Like so many things in Mexico, it's influenced strongly by certain aspects of the Aztec people.
It has shaped the way those of us with that heritage look at life and death in many ways, and most importantly on the remembrance of, and honoring the deceased. We traditionally decorate little altars dedicated to the memories of those that passed away… but it's not a somber occasion.
Jinglemas is the annual tradition on Fimfiction to exchange stories around the holidays with users on the site. This single event allows all Fimfiction users to come together and celebrate the reason for the season. Ponies!
Enroll in this Secret-Santa-style gift exchange to request a holiday themed story, to be written secretly by another participant during the month of December. And in turn, you will be tasked with writing someone else's request. Then all the stories will be exchanged at Christmas! Simplicity itself! Thanks to the hard work of the Breezies, everyone will be ensured to get their gift!
You only have until November 24th to Sign up!
Hello everyone, this is a PSA (Public Service Announcement, for those of ESL) to put to rest consistent questions about using AI to 'write' stories and publish them here. This is not intended as a poll or a request for feedback. It is exclusively a clarification on an already-existing rule.
People ask: "Can I, oh great and powerful D, post a story or chapter that I got ChatGPT to write for me?!"
And the answer, my friend, is... No.
Absolutely not. Not in a thousand years!
Because you didn't write it.
It is not your creation. You are NOT the author. In fact, you are the opposite.
There seems to be some confusion when interpreting the following rule:
Don’t Post (Content)
[...]
Jinglemas is the annual tradition on Fimfiction to exchange stories around the holidays with users on the site. This single event allows all Fimfiction users to come together and celebrate the reason for the season. Ponies!
Enroll in this Secret-Santa-style gift exchange to request a holiday themed story, to be written secretly by another participant during the month of December. And in turn, you will be tasked with writing someone else's request. Then all the stories will be exchanged at Christmas! Simplicity itself! Thanks to the hard work of the Breezies, everyone will be ensured to get their gift!
Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?
And then you magically find yourself in a suspiciously familiar site, except that you're not logged in, and it requires you to do so?
Well. Don't log in. This is a scam, and a cheap one at that.
There've been recent attempts to obtain Fimfiction users’ personal data, like passwords and/or emails through links like the one I'm making fun of above. And a distressing amount of people don't seem to know what phishing attempts are.
If you HAVE entered a site like this and put in your data, make sure to follow these basic steps at least.
As should be obvious from 15 months without a feature, life has taken the Royal Canterlot Library curators in different directions. While there’s still plenty of awesome stories being written in the My Little Pony fandom, we’re no longer actively working to spotlight them, and it’s time to officially draw the project to a close.
Thank you for all of your support, suggestions, and comments over the years. We’re grateful to have been able to share seven years of exemplary stories with you, and give more insight into the minds behind them. In the spirit of the project, please keep reading and recommending fantastic fics to friends—the community is enriched when we all share what we love.
Jinglemas had 114 stories written and exchanged this year!
You can read them all here, in the Jinglemas 2021 folder!
Jhoira wrote The Hearths Warming Eve Guest for EngageBook
GaPJaxie wrote Twilight and Spike Hide a Body for Telly Vision
SnowOriole wrote The Armor Hypothesis for BaeroRemedy
snappleu wrote Words Said So Often That They Lack Any Meaning for Trick Question
NeirdaE wrote Starlight and Trixie Direct a Play for Moosetasm
Ninjadeadbeard wrote Garland Graveyard Shift for NeirdaE
Roundabout Recluse wrote Apples to Apples for Ninjadeadbeard
MistyShadowz wrote The Times We Shared for NaiadSagaIotaOar
Petrichord wrote A Gentle Nudge for Angel Midnight
Jade Ring wrote Past, Future, and Present for Frazzle2Dazzle
Jake The Army Guy wrote The Big Talk for Dreadnought
The Red Parade wrote Heart Strings for Franso
Greatazuredragon wrote A Hearth’s Warming Question for GaPJaxie
Okay guys here's something fun presented by Nitro Indigo.
Presented by me, I guess, but I digress.
Swapped Roles Contest
Last year, I (Nitro Indigo) noticed that there was a surprising lack of roleswap fanfics on this site. To fix that, I decided to run a roleswap contest over the summer themed around secrets. While it didn’t get many entries, it nevertheless attracted the attention of some big authors and was the origin of two of my favourite fics. Overall, I think it was a success, so I’ve decided to run another one!
Hope everyone is enjoying the new year.
Some small changes have been made to our rules as well as to the reporting process.
"No attacks directed at individuals or groups due to race, gender, gender identity, religion or sexual identity."
This better clarifies our previously ill-defined hate speech rule and includes groups as well as individual attacks.
"No celebration, glorification or encouragement of real life criminal activity."
This includes past, present and potential future crimes.
There's truly no time like the holidays. What's better than copious amounts of food, quality time with family and friends, hearing the sweet sound of Trans-Siberian Orchestra on repeat, and unmanagble financial stress from our capitalist overlords?
Gift exchanges of course!
One complaint I've heard a lot is how much influence good cover art has on whether someone notices a story. For this reason, I am considering removing them from anything but the actual story page so they don't have as much influence.
What do you guys think of this idea? Does it punish those who make cover art too much? Maybe just remove them from the front page?
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I'd never thought about this, but now that you mention it, I can't actually see a downside.
DO EET.
Edit: wow first again? get owned kids lolololololololol
One vote in favor here.
I don't think you should do that. Stories are inspired and recognized by the art. However, I think you might want to enforce removal of art not allowed by the artist because it allows the artist to exercise the influence his art has. Art is a powerful view of the story, it should not be removed.
I know the reasoning behind this but I disagree in implementing it. I have two stories that both don't have cover art, yet they are doing rather well for someone rather new as me. But if they had cover art I'm sure they would be 10x as popular. Still, if someone is fortune to have cover art, let them show it, I find cover art demotes a story in a way if it is bad. So therefore I believe cover art should be displayed on the home page, story browsing, and in the story proper.
It's not fair to us who use cover pictures.
If other people are getting upset that their stories aren't being read because of a lack of cover art, then they should just get some cover art.
It's all over DeviantART, Google images, etc. It's not hard to find.
A picture tells a thousand words.
Personally I find the pictures vital to deciding on whether or not to read a story, and the site would suffer greatly if they were removed — this includes the front page.
Before you jump at the advice of a small number of people who have taken a position on this issue, I think a poll would be in order.
"Do you support removing pictures from the front page?" Y/N. I would be *VERY* surprised if removing pictures even from there netted over 40% of the vote.
Yes, the cover art does influence who will look at the story by a great deal. Still, I'm not sure if you should remove it or not, knighty. I see both pros and cons.
I'll remain neutral on this one.
I'm leaning more towards "do it", though.
I would be curious to see how the public reacted.
Some of my covers are just shots from the show, or pictures other artists have done (used with permission, naturally). It's kind of callous to say, 'just get a cover somewhere,' and it doesn't always work, but I think people could definitely put in more effort. A digression.
I encourage anything that makes readers get more engaged, but I'd be shy of any fallout from it...
I say just for upsdated stories on the front page. Leaves room for more so they don't get pushed off as fast too.
New stories should still have it to get readers early
The easily visible cover art is one thing that sets fimfiction apart from the rest. Does it affect story selection? Yes, but that's not a bad thing. It just means the author chose a good cover. You aren't supposed to judge a book by the cover anyway.
I for one, love fimfiction just the way it is and I think the site as a whole would be greatly diminished by the removal of cover art anywhere.
I vote yes, as not every story has relevant cover art out there
I don't think it should be removed, I love making cover art but I don't think I'd be as inclined to anymore if I knew that there wasn't much point and I think a lot of artists would share that feeling with me. And if someone isn't making their own cover art, it doesn't take much to find something to use with permission amongst the billions and billions of varying pictures in this fandom. Really there is no story that doesn't have a matching image on dA or derpi out there somewhere.
Of course it's nice to have an image there on the story page, but people won't be staring at the story page, they'll be reading the story. The point of cover art is to draw your eye, as much as I hate to say it, the point of cover art is to draw people in. If you do this and take that away, there's no point for anyone to upload anything into the cover art space because if someone has decided to click on the story to read it, the cover art won't mean anything.
It's a shame that people who can't or don't use cover art seemingly get less attention, but unfortunately that is what the point of cover art is.
I also think there'd be some issue with this because there are people who will have paid money to have commissions done that they will use as cover art. I don't think it's fair at all on people who have paid money for this privilege to not be able to use it, as opposed to the unfairness of simply not getting more attention.
Is it fair to ban all cars from the roads because some people can't afford to buy one?
So it's a no from me.
Would make the front page seem rather dull. The way I see it, the cover picture is one of those little things which show wether an author has put any actual thought/care into his work (Not always, but it can be a hint).
I dunno. It would be interesting to see stories judged entirely on their descriptions alone (a worthy judgment, since it requires writing skill from the author, just as their story). Maybe try it as an experiment for a bit?
1240422
The question isn't that simple. Ideally, an author should at least ask permission from an artist. Worst case, you buy a commission and get something tailor-made to your story. Just hitting up GIS and taking what you find really isn't something we should be encouraging. It's disingenuous and doesn't exactly foment understanding between fanart and fanfic. So no, not everyone can just "get a cover image" by your logic.
1240424
Looks like I have lots of onions today.
I'll admit, artwork catches my eye too, and no doubt it sometimes influences whether I click a story whose description seems not the greatest. But I think all too often, it's the stories with the best cover art, that which is best drawn or most interesting, that get more attention, and that really shouldn't be the case. It predicates readership on something other than the author's skill. I mean, it's kind of a human thing to do anyway, but there's no reason an image should be the be-all and end-all of whether a person reads a story.
Sure, punish those who actually take effort to look for a good image fitting their story.
Before the last update, the bigger descriptions were good for determining the quality and contents of the story.
Now, noone will even bother to go through the short descriptions.
Honestly, knighty, I would love to see even one story get featured or even popular on art alone. I would love to see a story get popular on its quality, but that doesn't happen either. Story popularity is determined by three things: if it is clop, how controversial or stupid the plot is, and who writes it.
This would make absolutely no difference.
Let the art stay.
Every single member of this site that I talk to do not skip a story for it's cover art, They [like me] read the description before deciding if they want to read the story.
Not only that but good cover art is not hard to find at all, so I believe those that are sending you these complaints are likely too lazy to find decent art to use.
But yes cover art does play a factor when it comes to stories, I know some people may not read the description of a story if it does not have an image, But as I said before it is not hard to get one.
Removing cover art from even the front page will most likely mean that more good stories will get unnoticed, as that "Stigma" against stories without cover art will change into skipping a story over it's name. Which is even worse
Although I can see reasonable arguments for this change, I have to say no. Some people (including me) put a lot of thought into their cover art, some even put a lot of effort into making their own cover art, and it's not just to make it flashy and attention-grabbing, but rather something that gives an idea of what the story itself is like, tone most of all. A saucy picture indicates a saucy story and a dark or sad image indicates just that.
A person judging a book based on its cover more than they should is their mistake, and not something worth punishing the majority who simply like to get a reasonable taste of a story's tone before investing time into it.
I really want to keep the art. I will be the first to admit that the story art has incredibly much to do with whether i pick up a story or not. However, this is not a bad thing. I might miss some hidden gems, but I have found that the stories with good art are often worth reading, while the stories without it are less so. So from a consumer standpoint I would love to keep them. But of course, i can see how this would be a problem for authors without ways of getting some decent art.
If anything, leave them arts on the feature box. Any good author worth his salt will try hard enough on his story to bother putting art on it, so if there is no art on a feature, I usually find it safe to assume that the author is either new or doesn't care too much.
That's a stupid idea, Knighty, but I'll forgive you. I like cover art, it draws me into a story, and sometimes it's really, really good. I say no.
Removing cover art from the front page might have a different advantage. It would drastically reduce the number of images that a browser has to load at one time to view the page. The only “mobile” internet capable device I have is a Nintendo 3DS, which I once tried visiting this site with. It would not load the page, I think partially due to all the images, but also the javascripts that the site uses. Based on that experience, maybe it would help other mobile devices, even ones that are more advanced than a 3DS. (I hate the browser the 3DS comes installed with, by the way. Not that I actually use it though.)
I think it would be good to leave cover art for everything but the front page. It would make more room for the story description anyway.
tl;dr (summary and afterthought):
I don't like the idea of removing cover art from search/browsing page, or other places.
Removing the cover art from the main page sounds good. Maybe it could be a test run to see how it goes.
1240448 There are some exceptions, but this seems to be the rule of thumb. I avoid stories like these.
1240441 Actually, it is. I do it all the time, and most of the pics looks really good.
Plus, you forget: once you put something out on the internet, anyone can legally borrow it for many different uses, including using pictures artists post for your cover art.
So, in reality, if you WANT to, you can give credit, otherwise, you don't even have to, and that makes it even easier to find pictures to use for cover art.
If it's such a problem for some people that they aren't getting views because of a lack of cover art, it really is THAT simple to fix the problem.
Please, for the love of both Celestia and Primus, keep the cover art.
"A picture is worth 1000 words" and I think having a good picture that shows what a story is about is great.
Is there a problem? I'm not sure why you would think we should remove it. There are plenty of ways to figure out if a story is good, such as from the votes or what commenters are saying. Perhaps emphasizing other important metrics like votes would help users find good stories, though I'm not sure what more you can do than what's already being done.
That kinda takes away the point of putting a cover picture. It's supposed to attract readers. As much as good cover art gives some stories an advantage, it's just part of how it works. Plus I think it'd be unfair to those that have actual covers made for their story. (Like me, who's been stuck making my own cover art and therefore haven't continued my stories.)
So I vote keep the cover pics.
Personally, I spend a lot of time working on cover art for my stories. Maybe it's not the best art around, but the fact that the site gives me the option is awesome! I view cover art on FiMFiction the same as cover art on real novels or magazines, it's not the meat of the article, but it is the first thing that catches your eye. If someone finds or makes good cover art, the system is currently set up to reward that effort. I think that this is perfectly functional as it is.
A picture does speak a thousand words after all!
I think it's a good idea. There are a lot of good authors on the site that don't get the recognition they deserve because they don't use or don't have access to good cover art to use.
1240448
Speaking from a lengthy time of watching from behind the scenes... this can and will happen. It's usually a game of 'how nsfw can I make this cover art and still get it approved?' and then people see the almost anthroboobs on the front page and BOOM instant feature.
Less of a worry with non-porn stories, but it still happens.
I don't think they should be removed from the front page. A lot of readers get drawn in by the cover art after all, and that's mostly the reason people bother with it in the first place.
Besides, a lot of people work hard on their cover arts or comission somebody to make an attractive one, so they deserve to be seen.
Well, if that happened, it'd make the front page of the site look dull and boring. Kind of like fanfiction.com. And yeah, good cover art does factor a bit into whether you read a story or not. I know it does for me with actual books from the library. But cover art really isn't all that hard to come by. If people are complaining, then they're either too picky or lazy to choose some cover art. Keep everything as is, since cover art on the front page makes the site look more interesting and inviting to new and old users alike.
I'm not in favor of anything that restricts of stifles creative expression. Plenty of writers on the site have custom made cover art for their stories.
It may seem unrelated, but this recent Game Theory video compares YouTube to a strategy game and what people do to 'win.'
One of the things it talked about is how 'deceptive cover images' were used on YouTube to trick people into clicking on the videos.
I still think people should be able to see the cover art.
Maybe as a compromise, have it where the cover art is hidden on the front page, but there's also a 'click for cover art' button.
That way, it's up to the writer to catch someone's attention by the description of their story, but those who want a more visual representation still have the option of clicking to reveal the cover art from the front page.
I say that you should keep the cover art.
Aside from the fact that it isn't fair to those who actually put art on their stories, and it might actually hurt some stories, because I've seen a few that use the art as part of the descrption.
Also, I know that you want to be fair to everyone, but all fics are not created equal. Some are just not very good for any number of reasons, and it seems that all of us are being denied cover art now because of that.
In my opinion, that would be unwise. Some people put a lot of work into cover arts. You know, books have covers for a reason.
I personally think that this is a terrible idea, no offense. As a result, I'm going to punch in a long, terrible post about why I think so.
As The Grey Pegasus said, cover art is made to attract readers. If you have cover art, then you will most likely get more likes, favorites, views, etc.
But if you remove cover art from anything but the story page, it could cause some controversy. The people who made the art (If they didn't steal it or simply used vectors) put time into their art. It wouldn't be fair if their story (Or a story that the artist created art for) got less views just because nobody saw their cover art on the front and browsing page.
I make my own cover art, or I ask someone else to make some.. As I've said, this would probably insult those who also make their own.
In short, it wouldn't be fair. It would cause dispute, and for God's sake people just won't like it.
So no. Don't do it.
It influences people to get good artwork if they want their stories read.
No.
Removing it would be worse in some cases. Because sometimes, a story without coverart isn't even glanced at at all! Any sort of coverart would grab most people's attention no matter what it is.
While some may be influenced, not everyone is so I would just keep the coverart as it is.
I encourage removing it. Not everyone has the resources or ability to create cover art, and shouldn't lose out just because of that. Removing the art would reduce server strain and give fics a "more even standing", in my opinion. I would imagine it would help a bit with bandwidth, too.
But what about those beautiful OC creator coverart pictures on the front page?
On a more serious note, I'd still say no to this idea. I won't repeat too much what everyone else has said but the front page would be lifeless, and it's not fair on those who want their story to be special and dedicated time to finding a picture.
Just imagine what a bookstore would be like with the coverart inside the book, instead of the front. Booorinngg.
It wouldn't make the stories with no art more appealing: it would just make the others less so. Which isn't exactly fair.
1240475
I have been here my share of time as well, almost 2 years on this site now. I know that it may appear to happen, but realistically, those clopfics you talk about would have most likely been featured even without the cover art.
Take a look at the story Beautiful Ponies: It had probably the most questionable cover image I've ever seen passed on this website, it didn't get close to the feature box.
Cover art does not even remotely affect viewers, if you ask me.
On the one hand, people who put real effort into getting good cover art ought'a receive the benefits good cover art comes with.
On the other hand, some genuinely good authors just aren't in a position to commission an artist to make good cover art.
On a third hand which is oddly similar to the second hand, those people could just find pre-existing relevant artwork and ask permission to use it. Plenty of popular stories have done that, and that's still effort put into it.
Off the top of my head, that's 1 con and 2(?) pros. I'll vote against removing cover art from the front page.
1240496
u wanna fite m8? oi'll fukin' rek u i will, i swear on me mum
1240479
That's not really a solution, if there is no cover art and people are being forced to read descriptions/titles to see if they want to read it or not, why bother turn on the cover art at that point so the only point in the cover is to also help draw someone in? And by that point they'll have chosen whether to or not.
Some people took times to create their own cover. It's a balanced situation. In my opinion I would prefer to keep it because it makes artist 'live' and spread their arts. And also it 'forces' people to take care of the "front page" of their story.
We should keep it.
I'm agreeing with a fresh viewpoint that's spawning from this discussion which is, if someone really cares about their story and puts a lot of effort into it, the same people wouldn't find it too much to find some decent art for their work.
Personally I agree that it seems the people complaining to you might just be lazy people
.
1240498
I would dismantle you kid fight me irl
It could work.......
1240479
I completely agree with your idea. Having a button that reveals the Cover Image would be very good. So the popularity of a story wouldn't just be decided on the Cover Image, it would be decided on the description. I've read many stories in my time on FiMfic, and i'm not afraid to admit that I've read some of them just because of their cover art.