Cuzosu

All my characters above the age of "was born two minutes ago" have backstories, I just don't always know them.
And neither do I always have to, or at least, I have no more need to know the backstory of someone my main characters meet for five minutes than I have a need to know the personal history of someone I meet for five minutes.

"This floxed me."
*glares at typo, smacks self in the head* That's what I get for being unable to decide whether to type "foxed" or "flummoxed"....

...Given all the stories I've read about his sexual exploits, celibacy was never a trait I'd associated with him.

My most recent fail, as I was typing up a message to Raymy via email: "ketchup and mustard" became "kestard and mutchup." Thankfully I caught it before sending, but I mentioned it to her anyway and posted it here regardless. We all need a laugh sometimes, right?
I really shouldn't write when I'm that tired.

Recently made some typos in a language I myself am creating for a huge fantasy project of mine. Oops. XD
One of these resulted in something that could be interpreted as "and the scribe got fucked (with) [by the wind]" rather than the "and the writings were messed up [by the wind]". Three letters difference, wholly different meaning. XD (Ki zhelem tayi azir [rha lian] instead of the Ki zhelan tayi azar [rha lian] I intended. XD)
Not that either sentence will be likely to actually make it into the story - mostly working on sentences to figure out which parts of grammar I have so far neglected and which words I still miss. Can't reference to a language properly if I myself don't know it.
As to more... mundane typos, "The elevator went pup."
Morphing elevators, what is the world coming to?

I agree, though I often have a hard time reading the extremely popular pairings, simply because I like to read material that is well written and (hopefully!) well edited, and it seems to me that the more popular a pairing is, the lower the percentage of well-created stories.
While I may be (am) mostly a yaoi fan, I do read the occasional het...and once or twice I've found yuri I enjoyed, though I don't go looking for it. *shrug* I'm just not as into other girls as I'm into guys. Not that I go for body alone, but in anime and manga, there IS a trend of overly feminine girls. Even Rukia is more girly than I am, and that...doesn't interest me. I am completely uninterested in fluttery, pretty facades and/or giggly morons, no matter if their hearts are in the right places. Nel appeals to me more than Rukia or Orihime. So does Tia, for that matter. Yoruichi's so much like a cat even in her human form that I can't find it in me to dislike her, though I like Urahara more. (And yes, I believe there are yaoi references in Bleach, whether or not they were meant. Why else is Urahara forever stabbing Ichigo with his sword cane/Zanpakuto? )

What Makes a Good Review:
1. Earnest emotional reaction to the story.
Criticism is appreciated, but I'd also like to know what my readers felt when they read. Did it make you sad? Did it make you horny? Did you get excited or scared? This is basic feedback stuff, but it's surprising how often it's omitted from a review.
2. Earnest intellectual reaction to the story.
What did you think about it? Sure, maybe the sex was hot and you chuckled a few times, but what did you actually think about the story? Did you buy the premise? Was the plot compelling? Were the characters fleshed out and unique? How about the presentation / narration? More basic stuff that often gets left out, especially when people focus on their emotional reactions!
3. Tell them what was good (Strengths)
4. Tell them what could be improved. (Weaknesses)
5. Tell them what you think / feel / want to happen in the story's future (Speculation)
6. Thank them for writing! Seriously, it's not easy.
I know that this is a shit ton to ask of any one reviewer. Just getting a review, even if it's a simple "please write more", is always a great feeling for most writers. But, when you really want someone's input, you'd want it on all of these things, I imagine. You want to know if your story is smart, if it evokes strong emotions, where it can be improved, where it's already strong, where people think it is headed. And, of course, you want some support.
Criticism is always a good thing, but it's not the only thing.
Years back I wrote a story that was a rather silly, smut oriented Gundam Wing fanfic. I came up with a title and made several edits very quickly before posting. It was called "Naughty Vodka", but I'd forgotten to change the name of the liquor from Bacardi, even though I'd replaced every instance of the word 'rum' with 'vodka'. Well, I got a bunch of reviews on that story that were hardly anything more than "Bacardi is a rum, not a vodka". Seriously. That's criticism, sure. I deserved it, sure. But that's always stood out in my mind as an example of how criticism can often be quite useless, and that an ideal review has much more to it.
Yeah, I'm done ranting. Hope this helps.

What I look for in an ideal review...
Honesty. I prefer someone outright stating they disliked my story (preferably with their reasons for this) over the famous "sandwich formula" when and if it's clear to me anyway that they disliked the story. Liked parts but hated others? Then make that clear. Don't wrap it up in twenty layers of compliments with half a sentence dedicated to what you disliked. Tell me what you disliked, why, if/how it could be improved.
Criticism & Non-genericness.
You didn't like it? That's fine, but what is the reason? Anything on my side that could be improved, or just not your cup of tea, etc.? Found some factual inconsistencies? Grammatical issues? Spelling mistakes? Plot holes (except in crack-fics and PWP, of course)? Point it out. Can't correct what I'm not aware of.
You hated it? Let me know, and why - unless it is because you refused to take heed of the summary and warnings. If I mention my story centers around a specific pairing or kink, you read it anyway, and then complain 'cause you don't like the pairing or kink... well, frankly speaking, you're wasting your time complaining, then.
You liked it? Lovely, but why/what part? Anything you feel could be improved? While "Loved it, write more plz." is nice for an ego-stroke, it doesn't tell me anything. Not even that someone read the story - for all I know, they could be copy-and-pasting it all over the archive. Same goes for "U & ur story suck, go crawl in a hole and die". If you are bothered enough to wish me dead, at least let me know why, 'kay?
(Not that I have received reviews of that kind on AFF yet - though I have on other sites)
Oh, and don't go and complain over a single typo if your review is written in leet-speak, littered with typos, etc. Point it out, sure. Get all up on your high horse? Not when your review that's less than 10% of the size of my chapter has about ten times as many typos in it as my chapter.

When I review, I try to leave an honest, in-depth collection of compliments, critique and suggestions on how to improve.
Generally, I start out with how I felt about the story as a whole, and if I don't have anything positive to say, I don't review. (That whole, "Not all authors have thick skin" thing.) I tell the author if I liked it, if I felt it had potential, if it intrigued me, if it made me laugh.
Next, I note what spelling or grammatical errors I remember seeing, what they should have been and why, AND that it's not a big deal, just something they might want to get a beta for because spell/grammar checks often make mistakes that a human eye can catch.
Then I move on to a scene by scene cover of the chapter/story. I comment on how in character people were if the story is fan fiction, and if they're not in character, I share my thoughts on how acceptable the reasoning for that is. I cover the realism of the emotions felt by the characters, because I'm big on psychological cause and effect. Also because I think it helps the reader connect with the story when the emotions are realistic, whether or not people are in character. If there's action, I'll cover how the fight scene seemed to me and how it might be improved (if I think of that; sometimes I miss that one).
In telling the author what I liked or disliked in each scene and how it might be improved if needed, I also like to throw in what I thought of the interactions between the characters, the way the thoughts came across, and how much attention to detail there was. Some writers are great at dialogue but suck at background details, such as scenery/surroundings. These are also important details, if mostly noted briefly and in passing, and they help a reader grasp the world the author is writing in. For fan fiction, not so much background detail is necessary, but it's still nice to read.
As I'm bringing my review to a close, I usually cover the details that really got to me (good or bad) again, restating why I had the reactions I did and why I felt it was or was not appropriate--and, if not, what suggestions I had to make it more appealing to readers. Then I enthuse a bit more over the story, bringing it to a close on a high note, and end it with my signature phrase and my username, which are as follows:
May the words just flow,
Cuzosu
(I find that "May the words just flow" and similar phrases of writing encouragement often seem to help others get past writer's block, so I try very hard not to leave it out. Encouraging another person to write more is a wonderful way of helping them learn to accept concrit and hopefully getting them to the point of figuring out how to correct some of their own mistakes. It may not always work, but I think it's worth the effort.)

Good for you two! Try not to get too worn out! (Though I understand the urge to celebrate, too. )

I'm in agreement. You're specifically speaking about phobias, and I think that "irrational fear" is at the heart of the matter. Fear may be necessary for the survival of any species, but I'm thinkin' humans are the only species with the "irrational" type, since rationality is peculiar to our evolved brains. So, following this response to Remetan's post:
Keith Inc. says
I don't agree with the logic, here. First, using the word "phobia" as if it means the same as "fear" is minimizing its true nature. If this were really a case of irrationality, proudly stating that you want to keep your phobia is, in itself, irrational (at least as far the rational thinker goes). Perhaps you do have homophobia, in which case, read on.
Additionally, implying that overcoming one's fears means they must engage in the object of the fear is ludicrous, as long as the fear is correctly labelled. Take, for example, the fear of flying or heights. It is really a fear of falling and injury/dying but when we label the activity which might lead to that undesirable outcome as a fear, we believe it is the activity, itself, that we fear. One does not overcome the fear of falling or dying by engaging in unsafe falling or actually dying. We know that we will fall from the air or a great height unless there is some mitigating factor, like aerodynamics of a plane or parachutes or even railings on a steep ledge plus our own impulse control to not jump. People constantly engage in activities that could lead to the feared result, but a rational being incorporates safety precautions to alleviate the natural fear. Stating it as just a fear of falling/dying is not really an accurate phrase for the people with phobias because the majority of humanity has it as a survival instinct but can still board a plane or look out over the Grand Canyon.
When it is a phobia, it becomes irrational because the person can't accept any safety measure, and therefore cannot engage in any activity that might lead to the dreaded outcome. When they are educated and exposed to the activity that is labelled as fear inducing, then one can actually overcome the phobia of the activity, while still retaining the instinctual fear of the outcome, were it to happen. I hope this is clear because I'm attempting to apply this to homophobia.
What is at the heart of homophobia? Irrational fear of what? I think the correct labelling must be defined as it's not about what others are doing, but how it affects oneself. Fear is personal, even a parental fear for your child is fear of species extinction at its core. So, it must be fear of an action upon yourself that would lead to undesirable outcome.
First, we'll drop the "irrational" and just deal with the fear. Is it having a cock shoved up your ass? That's not a fear if you want it to happen. Perhaps it's nonconsensual anal sex? That would be rape, and I would say that is an instinctual fear held by all humans. (Mmm. aside from rape kinks) I wouldn't go into the history of why rape, in general, is feared except that reproduction (for vaginal rape) and control (for anal rape) is most likely the basic reason for both men and women, but that's just my opinion. Pain, injury, and ultimately, death from complications, are probable outcomes from any type of rape. Definitely, justified fear there.
Now, how does a natural fear of anal rape become irrational? That comes when you feel certain activities would lead to your rape, even though the majority of humans can engage in them without getting raped. Things like: watching gay sex in a movie and feeling like you endorse it by doing so, being in the vicinity of gay men, whether as a friend or someone at a public event, and especially, accepting that it willingly occurs for others. None of these things will lead to your anal rape, hence, irrational.
So, aside from rape, what about consensual anal sex? If it is truly consensual, where does the fear stem from for those who wouldn't engage, (because they have a choice)? Yeah, the thought of it makes one squirm because there still may be pain, and other undesirable outcomes like STD's and -- just what about the poop, man? Now we enter the territory of safety precautions. What are those precautions? Ah, well, you'd have to be educated in the subject matter to know, wouldn't you? How can anyone enjoy that? Again, exposure through art or film might educate you. If you have the knowledge, you can overcome the irrational feeling that somehow it can hurt you.
Doesn't mean you should engage in the activity to desensitize yourself, even though, you might be astounded in your response were you to try that avenue. Ahhh, there is another fear. Fear of "becoming gay" if exposed to it. Pretty much irrational from the get go. No natural fear there, unless it's the fear of species extinction again. If you're curious but afraid, education can help, and yes, maybe you might engage when the fear is overcome, but it's still a choice. If you're adamant that you choose not to want gay sex, or not want to want it, then it is irrational to believe that exposure could change that. What you need to overcome is that belief, that somehow, no matter how you feel on the subject, you'll go against your better judgement and do it anyway. Talk about lack of self control. That has nothing to do with this particular phobia and you should check yourself for all other phobias related to impulse control.
I'm saying that learning is not wanting or doing, but understanding and accepting. Whatever the reason for the fear of gay (anal) sex, it's pretty irrational to think you would be subjected to it under any circumstances other than consensual (which isn't an option for those people) or rape, which is out of everyone's control. All other fears relating to anal sex can be dealt with by getting educated, which is not within the purview of this post.

This made me want to whip my eyes.

OK, so I have been skim reading too many yaoi fanfics whilst trying to finish my own. That means lots of men taking their clothes off or, as many authors put it, stripping down to their boxers.
Apparently men wear boxers whether they live in Japan or in a fantasy land, in a cave or in a village, in the past or in the future.
Maybe some words stand out to me while others don't. It's probably my age in that I know that many words used now weren't commonly used ten, twenty or even thirty years ago.
And there are worse examples than 'boxers', like brand names turning up in the wrong culture or era. Sometimes it feels like there is a team of time-travelling, universe-hopping marketing men specialising in product placement.
There again, maybe boxers are particularly annoying. All those beautiful, long-haired men wearing cloaks and wielding swords who turn out to be wearing boxers under their breeches.
Somehow I had something more exotic in mind.
My serious point is that a writer uses words to build a world to share with his/her readers so each should be selected with care.

An Italian fake out.

I always seem to start such a thread as this wherever I go, probably because I like to share the things that make me want to write--or which make me laugh or think. Yes, I have quite a collection. No, I don't always know where they came from, so if you do, please tell me.
What goes around usually gets dizzy and falls over. --?

(on being surrounded) "I prefer to call it a target-rich environment." --this is from either March to the Sea or March to the Stars, both of which are by David Weber and John Ringo

Whom the Gods would recruit, they first tick off. --back cover of Oath of Swords by David Weber

"It was the Gods who invented theft in the first place." --p. 38 The Shining Ones by David Eddings

"Defenestrated. It means getting thrown out of a window--a high one, usually. It doesn't accomplish very much to push somebody out of a ground-floor window." The Shining Ones by David Eddings

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in his or her shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. --?

Whoever said nothing's impossible should try slamming a revolving door. --?

Fight crime: shoot back. --?

"How do you prove that we exist? Maybe we don't exist." --Vivi, from Final Fantasy IX
"Whether we're real or not, let's not mope about it. You're pathetic." --Albel Nox, from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
The only thing worse than when the gods don't answer your prayers is when they do.
- from one of Catherine Asaro's novels, if I remember right
"A tisket, a tasket, a head in a basket. No matter how you try, it cannot answer the questions you ask it." --in David Weber and John Ringo's novel, We Few.


"I have eyes in the front of my head!"
"What, so you can see me when I'm standing nose to nose with you?"
--because sometimes my friends and I can't talk right to save our lives


"I'm the teacher. You're the student. I'm supposed to teach. You're supposed to sit there and look stupid." --Althalus, from David and Leigh Eddings' The Redemption of Althalus
"...It's not quite enough to justify a declaration of war just yet."

"War?" Bevier exclaimed.

"Naturally." Ulath shrugged. "If Otha's been involving himself in the internal affairs of the western Elene kingdoms, that's cause enough to go east and do war upon him."

"I've always liked that expression," Kalten said. "'Do war.' It sounds so permanent--and so messy."

"We don't need justification if you really want to go destroy Zemoch, Ulath," Tynian said.

"We don't?"

"Nobody ever got around to drawing up a peace treaty after the Zemoch invasion five hundred years ago. Technically, we're still at war with Otha--aren't we, my Lord of Lenda?"

"Probably, but resuming hostilities after a five-hundred-year truce might be a little hard to justify."

"We've just been resting up, my Lord." Tynian shrugged. "I don't know about these other gentlemen, but I feel fairly well rested now."

-- The Sapphire Rose by David Eddings


The Death of the Necromancer (Martha Wells) quotes:

.... "This nonchalant attitude is beginning to wear."

"Would you prefer me to twitch hysterically?"

"If you could bring yourself to express such an honest and genuine sentiment as hysteria...."

-- p. 295



"I have a plan." This was true. "I just don't know whether it will actually work or not." This, unfortunately, was also true.

-- p. 322



.... You sound like Nicholas, she told herself. When did you become so cynical? Sometime after sorcerers started trying to kill me, she answered. Sometime after I met Nicholas.

-- p. 168



.... If this fails and I get us all arrested, I won't have to put a pistol to my head because Nicholas will kill me. And in all fairness I'll just have to let him.

-- p. 181



.... "Perhaps we can find another horror for you to fight at a more convenient time."

-- p. 183



Nicholas was too tired to curse Fate at the moment. He would have to remember to do it later.

-- p. 191

Paths Not Taken by Simon R. Green-- "Appalling fellow. I wouldn't piss down his throat if his heart was on fire."
Paths Not Taken-- "Sometimes I think the dinosaurs died out just to spite me."

Paths Not Taken-- .... "This place is bound to be packed with all kinds of people you detest the most. I'm sure you'll find someone worth upsetting in some thoroughly appalling and vindictive way."

The Moon's Shadow (Catherine Asaro) -- "Shall we spend eternity in a hell of our ancestors' making? At the least, we should make our own hells."

The Sapphire Rose by David Eddings-- "I understand that congratulations are in order, my friend, but I don't know that I'd take off my armor until you get to know her better."

Domes of Fire by David Eddings-- "Our Holy Mother reels from crisis to crisis like a drunken sailor."

Gate of the Gods by Martha Wells-- The man brings new meaning to the word odious. And also the word obvious, for that matter.

A conversation between my cousin and me, some years back.
Yamesu: *gets halfway thru saying something*
Cuzo: *taps foot impatiently, waits for Yamesu to finish*
Yamesu: *taps foot with finger, tilts head to the side* What is that supposed to be?
Cuzo: *right off the top of her head* That's my foot on its way to kick your ass.





Two classmates of mine, during a math class.
Ashleigh: I'm going on a dating panel.
Mandy: You wanna date a camel?!

I'm not a complete idiot; some parts are missing. --?
The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. --?
And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With old odd ends, stol'n forth of holy writ;
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.
~William Shakespeare

I want you to put more life into your dying.
-- Samuel Goldwyn
"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." (Animal Crackers)

Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive. - Wallace Irwin

"He used statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts; for support rather than illumination." --?

"I commend my soul to any god that can find it." - Moist von Lipwig, Going Postal, a Terry Pratchett book

As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two...
-- Sir Norman Wisdom

I'm back... and you knew I was coming. On my way here I passed a cinema with the sign 'The Mummy Returns'.
-- Margaret Thatcher
It was nine o' clock at night and Tremaine was trying to find a way to kill herself that would bring a verdict of natural causes in court when someone knocked on the door.
--first sentence of Martha Wells' book The Wizard Hunters

The most nerve-racking commissions, Madeline thought, were the ones that required going in through the front door. This front door was simply more imposing than most.
--first paragraph of Martha Wells' The Death of the Necromancer
"Your acidic nature has already corroded my personality." --from my unposted original story, Into the Wind
"I'm saying that you can use both idiots and scissors, but you can't let an idiot use scissors." - Sebastian in the manga/anime Black Butler (or in Japanese, Kuroshitsuji)

"I don't care what you are doing, so much as the idiotic way that you are doing it." - Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII

"Tell Yuffie that this is my phone. She has no right to call it" - Vincent to Cloud, Advent Children during the tribute to FFVII
"I've got to follow them - I am their leader." - Alexandre Ledru-Rollin


"I was born modest; not all over, but in spots." - Mark Twain


"My specialty is detached malevolence." - Alice Roosevelt Longworth


"In Chinese, the word for crisis is wei ji, composed of the character wei, which means danger, and ji, which means opportunity." - Jan Wong

"No one provokes me with impunity." (Or, in Latin, "Nemo me impune lacessit." It has the translation in my quote book, too.) - motto of Scotland


"(Courage) a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it." - William T. Sherman


"I am not absent-minded. It is the presence of mind that makes me unaware of everything else." - G. K. Chesterson


"When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself." - Plato


"It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes. It takes more gut and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own." - Jessamyn West
"I can't handle him right now."
"Is it the change of environment?"
"Pretty sure it's just his usual stupidity."
--a friend (shikyokage on FFnet) and me, brainstorming a conversation for a collaboration fic
I dreamt I was a moron. --Squall from Final Fantasy VIII
Stormforce by Chris Bunch
"You wish?" Ben Dill said politely to the Musth.
"To inquire as to why you are being stupid."
"Just my normal procedure."
"You are a pilot," Alikhan said. "Yet you have volunteered to play ground-worm. That does not make sense."
"Because," Dill said, "like I told Garvin, back on Cumbre, I'm bored waiting for trouble to come to me."
"I see. That is stupid indeed," Alikhan said. "But no more stupid than my joining the Force. Why did you not ask me if I wanted to be stupider than I already am?"
"To be real honest," Ben said thoughtfully, "I didn't even think about it. ...."

Stormforce by Chris Bunch
"Shuddup, everybody," Dill said, standing. From somewhere, he'd found another full pitcher. He clambered on top of the table, and started singing the age-old song:
Did you ever think when a hearse went by
That you might be the next to die?
Then, changing tempo:
The worms crawl in
The worms crawl out
The worms dance tangos
All over your snout.
He went back to speech:
"A hymn to the next of us to go south:
"Hymn...hymn...screw him..."
*eyes dinner, turns to the person sitting next to them* "I'd rather eat you than whatever the hell this is, and I don't even like you." --a bit of inspiration I bounced off shikyokage
*deep breath* "Mm, I love the smell of paranoia in the morning.... Don't you?"
*death glares*
"If looks could kill, I'd live forever."
--more brainstorming with shikyokage
"Is it so much of a challenge to believe that I can be civil for two seconds?"
"At a time or altogether?"
--I cannot for the life of me remember where I first found this.
"You look like you're trying to glare enlightenment out of that tree."
"It's obviously denying me infinite wisdom and knowledge."
"Well maybe if you didn't threaten it, it would be nicer?" ... "But since it bothers you so much perhaps you can ask me and I'll ask the tree."
--I think I found this in a Fire Emblem fic on FFnet (called Trust, if I remember right)...
Off the top of my head one day:

"If we are what we eat, you're dead meat and I'm a wild animal."
"What's that make him?"
"A limp noodle."




And from a lovely Air Gear yaoi fic I found.... (Title: I Love You, I Love You, I Love You, and I Hate You)
(Of course the yaoi pair had jumped apart upon hearing their teammates' voices nearby....)
"What are you two doing?" Onigiri asked as they stopped in front of the two boys.
"Nothing you fucking pig." The shark answered in irritation.
"So…what are you guys doing still hanging around?" Kazu asked as he desperately hoped for a change in subject.
"Well we decided to go to the café for a bit after so..." Ikki began to explain. "I thought you went home already Kazu?"
"Uh..."
Before the blond could come up with an excuse Onigiri had already substituted his own theory. "I bet he was with that girl of his..." (Who of course is a guy, lol.)
Agito raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Kazu.
"Where'd she go? I wanna meet her!" Ikki yelled, looking around for any sight of this mysterious woman.
"She ran away sensing idiots nearby..." (When in reality "she" is sitting next to him. XD)
From Saiyuki (the Reload series, I think):
Sha Gojyo: "There's always some dipshit...."
Cho Hakkai: "Now, Gojyo--let's not replace tact with honesty."
Lady Astor: If you were my husband, I'd give you poison.
Winston Churchill: If you were my wife, I'd drink it.

Parliament member: Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.
Disraeli: That depends, Sir, on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.

Walton Kerr: He had delusions of adequacy.

William Falkner of Ernest Hemingway: He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.

Moses Hadas: Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.

Mark Twain: I did not attend his funeral, but I wrote a nice letter saying I approved of it.

George Bernard Shaw: I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend...if you have one.
Winston Churchill: Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second...if there is one.

Mark Twain: Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?

Mae West: His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"What's the matter? Did you look in the mirror?"
--one of many insults traded by my cousin 'su, one of my brothers and me
"It seems that at least your mouth is well off...." -from the first volume of Fate/Stay Night
"...'twill turn your eyeballs black and blue." - Brendan Behan

"It seldom pays to be rude. It never pays to be only half-rude." - Norman Douglas

"Lord Birkenhead is very clever but sometimes his brains go to his head." - Arthur R. M. Lower

There are lots of things i enjoy that would make the stomachs of average people churn, but at the same time there are some things i don't feel confortable reading or writing about that seem to be quite popular and/or acceptable to most people; but instead of being an asshole and blaming other people i take responsibility for my own actions and just don't go read stuff that displeases me.

Guilty, and proud to be. Pets, whether they are dogs, cats, iguanas, are living creatures. For me taking another living creature into my house and my family means they are family, end of story.
Have you ever met someone famous but didn't know it until after?

Glad we could help. Not sure there's points left to cover about spanking; at least I can't think of any at the moment. *shrug* The main thing is to limit the use and the number of spankings per misbehavior, so that it doesn't turn into abuse.
Honestly I find myself feeling old when I think about how kids these days are raised, too. People get all offended when I say a swat would do their kids a world of good, and one of my aunts has a pair of spoiled brats because she won't spank and won't let anyone else spank her kids, and I can only wonder how they think these kids are going to turn out. Especially with this trend towards rude behaviors nowadays. Probably part of why I - and you - feel old when talking about the kids these days is because I/we hold true to an older method of raising children, one that we know works, and we see what happens when it's not followed and should be. (Not that all kids need the physical discipline, but certainly a lot of them need at least a swat now and then.)

I cosplayed as Inuyasha before. I went to a few conventions, and hand sewed the whole damn outfit because I was afraid of the sewing machine. The best part of it was getting to make out with a guy who had dressed up as Sesshomaru Just doing our part to keep the yaoi alive!

In the interests of openness, I can't understand why someone who is of the opinion that any comment on their work that isn't glowing praise is a "personal attack" would post on a public archive.
If you just want person-to-person commentary, hand your manuscript off to a few friends. By posting it in a public, open archive, you're welcoming feedback - including that which may be "negative".
I take it from your response that you're only considering concrit to be those statements which say "this needs to be done to make this better" - but that's only a part of it. For example, one night I needed a pick me up, and I read one of Melrick's stories. This was practically my whole review:
I still consider that constructive criticism. Why? Because I told him what I liked about it. I didn't dissect it line for line, no, but that was hardly necessary. I also consider this and this constructive criticism. Telling an author of a fan work that they did a good job with the character is about the best constructive criticism I think I can provide.
Even reviews like what I left here, by what you're saying, would be offensive to your friends? Even though I'm saying I like the story, there's just one little point that could be cleared up a little with re-wording? That review, other than a small suggestion, was entirely positive constructive criticism. Even the suggestion was not negative, but simply a statement that something could be explained more clearly.

As a writer, I embrace concrit. That's not to say that the criticisms don't sometimes sting, but if I'm honest about wanting to grow as a writer, I need to hear what doesn't work. It doesn't help me to only hear praise. I won't know where I need to focus, and I'm one of those odd people who doesn't want my email address out there for the world to offload their musings onto.
I've gotten concrit, and I hope to get more. I'll give it where I think it's needed unless an author asks that they not receive it, in which case, I probably won't review at all.

Why? I'm truthfully curious. Why?
I honestly thought that the reason for posting works on archives like this one was to get the feedback of the community, writers and readers alike, in order to improve one's skills.
I'll grant you, some writers do state that they don't want concrit. But a vast majority of the writers I've left concrit for have actually thanked me for it.
Perhaps we have different definitions of concrit. I'm not just saying "your spelling needs work" - I tell them both strengths and weaknesses in their stories. I thought that's what constructive criticism was. How are you defining it?

That's a lot of inspiration Cuzosu! I loved that you had Vivi's quote from IX. I miss that game.
Here's one of my inspirations:
It is a man's own mind not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways. - Buddha
I suppose that just shows that I like psychological, internal conflicts.

One should always be decent to madness, after all. *nods sagely while edging away*

LOL. My first thought was "thesauri".