Basically, you should try to post C&C to the list quickly enough so that 
folks will remember what you're talking about.  Of course, you may 
directly C&C any author on any of their stories you like, no matter how 
long it's been there--folks probably still write Stephen King letters 
saying, "I just read Carrie, and it was great!"  So the rules are a 
little elastic, depending on how much your C&C will help the other 
readers remember it.  For instance:

Comment:
  "Loved it!"
  This kind of thing, while always a pleasure to the authors, isn't much 
value to the List after a couple days.

Synop:
  Detailed analysis of major themes.
Good for a week or so, if the fic itself was a major one.

Excerpt:
  As with Synop, but includes quoted text.
Good if you miss the deadline on the Synop, up to about three weeks for 
really major fics, with chapters of 100+K.

MST:
  Entire/most of fic with added riffs.
No limit.  I'm pretty sure most of the stuff Megane rips has never even 
been posted to the ML.

Again, and it bears repeating, even a year or two is not too much time 
for a direct C&C to the author, if you think it can be of some use.  Web 
pages can always be edited, after all, and if you give an author a major 
brain spasm with your C&C, they might just wind up posting an extended 
revise/repost.

Just my two bits.

--Freemage

Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 15:00:30 -0700
Subject: [FFML] Time-delayed C&C

    The FAQ says that the FFML is for the discussion of
(anime/manga) fanfics posted to the list, but it doesn't say anything
about having to respond within a certain time period.  So... is it
permissible to post C&C about a fic (or, in the case of ongoing
series, part of a fic) that has already been released to the web
archives, or is it an unwritten rule that the list deals only with
pre-release stuff?  Or, to put it another way, is there a time beyond
which established list practice (or even good manners) prohibits
commenting on a previously posted story?  

Emily Thurston
ethurston1@weber.edu

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