alexseanchai | (no subject)

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challenge: nanowrimo

(no subject)

A conundrum, o writerly friends!

Suppose scenes taking place at the same time, both in a social media setting. One character is flipping between channels or tabs or apps or whatever in order to participate in both scenes. How does one track what's going on from that character's perspective, in chronological order, without cluttering the story with mentions of changing tabs?

I'm kind of thinking for AO3 purposes I might left-align one convo and right-align the other, but frankly that'll be ugly...

—say. Does AO3 do columns?

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So I just checked and lo, the Archive does indeed do allow both div and table tags, so that could be the way to go? I'm not sure how that would read if the scenes are very long ... or for someone accessing the Archive on mobile, for that matter...

*nod*

further, mrgh

thanks

It poses some pretty serious accessibility challenges (both mobile users, and especially anyone who uses a screenreader), which might be a thing to consider.

well fuck. so much for that, then.

um. I guess the best way to handle the characters' chatlogs while prioritizing accessibility is to put each channel sequentially with timestamps on each line? something like idk

#fivespots

[23:05] pieceofcakedesigns
FOUR GOWNS

[23:07] gravitylawbreaker
do mine eyes deceive me

[23:07] dichatomic
but I don't want to play Comedy of Errors
this is better:
if I profane with my unworthiest hand

#peachykeen

[23:06] greenbeautyquark
...I have had the weirdest day

[23:06] tamiriariani
yeah? bet mine's weirder
check scroll

[23:09] greenbeautyquark
Tamir, beloved
I have checked scroll and
no

? (I mean since we know from earlier in #fivespots log that greenbeautyquark is active in that channel?)

thank you.

Edited 2018-11-04 20:19 (UTC)

Color?

Maybe? But that sounds like hella coding.

Nah. If AO3 allows it, the tags are: < text color = "[hex number]"> < /text> and then if you want both exchanges in not-black, the other color.

You could also change the background colors, in which case it's < div bgcolor="[hex number]"> < /div>. Andyou can get your hex numbers for colors here.

Huh let me try this...

background

text

ETA: apparently DW does not allow.
Anyway. Not any more markup than columns would be.

Edited 2018-11-04 21:31 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure color isn't going to work for screen-readers.

I remember attending a con-panel on screenreaders and other assistive technology, and the presenter said she couldn't follow Homestuck fanfic because apparently the characters are color-coded to identify them; her screen reader ignored the colors.

Fair point.

This seems readable to me.

Okay, so to some extent I get to sacrifice chronological order, I guess?

Thanks

Maybe blanket italicize one of the channels?

The < blockquote > html tag might work, too. (I mean, to mark a distinction. I know it works as html, since I used it in All the Names I Know You By.)

Ooh, yeah, blockquote is a possibility

Depending on how the story goes, it might be that a simple break of some sort, predicated by a character talking about how having so many things open and switching is terrible for attention, might do. That's if you want the reader to be pulled along in all of the stops and starts of various things as the focus changes.

Hm. Maybe.

Not necessarily a now problem. Now problem is, sending my high school age characters to school on Monday is non optional but I can't think of the interesting things happen at that setting...

*frowns at outline* nothing happens there that HAS to happen at the school.

Maybe I skip to end of school day?

Why not? If there's nothing interesting there, don't write it until there is. Or until you need to foreshadow something important later on there.

If all else fails, throw penguins.

Well, as originally outlined Adrien's fanclub classmate #3 got the dubious honor of being turned into the villain-du-jour for the midpoint fireworks. My protags p much only encounter her at school. But since I changed the circumstances of the gala, I am not sure who gets to be midpoint fireworks anymore, other than minor-character-not-otherwise-specified.

Also as originally outlined, Adrien's health was made an issue of during the school day, but you may notice in chapter two that he falls over three times, is too tired to stand at least once, and has an upset stomach, which is possibly overkill on the plot-related health front! Also if enough of an issue is made of it to send him to the nurse over, then Nathalie and the bodyguard (whose actual name isn't canonical, I presume; everyone just calls him the Gorilla), if not also Gabriel, will find out. Which is a complication I may want for word count but do not need for plot purposes.

And it would be comedic to describe Adrien and Marinette's classmates reacting to the very changed-from-canon[-through-"Frozer"] dynamic these two have, but I may have slightly overkilled that in chapter two too? But also Alya and Nino's plot starts "...okay, wtf happened while I wasn't looking?" so I may want to show that Alya and Nino are legit not the only ones noticing? idk?

(I'm counting this whole comment towards words btw)

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