Kurahieiritr
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Posts posted by Kurahieiritr
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Try having her reeling from shock at seeing/hearing the master then. Present her having a full blown flashback via her point of view so that she is struggling to remember that she is in a new place and time. It would clear up any issues if you leave traces of her abused self much earlier in the story through foreshadowing scenes such as her awakening from nightmares or having her acting jumpy over sights and sounds she would be accustomed to hearing/seeing during captivity. Give her a scar that twinges or other items of the same kind to hint at her past being so dark before tossing the master at her. Such foreshadowing would be normal to such a storyline. A quick flash of a disjointed scene that pops in her head could also be a great way to make clear not all is well in her strong woman's world.
If the readers find her hard to believe in when the trauma hits, it means you forgot to leave any traces that she is more complex than you have shown her to be to this point in your story line. All trauma victims have triggers, and that is a fact. Like I said earlier, victims have to learn what their triggers are so they can desensitize from them. If she does not yet know her triggers well enough, she is going to flip out completely and that is a known fact of psychology/psychiatry.
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Not only is your idea possible, but highly likely if the woman has not learned how to desensitize herself to overcome the trauma of her past. The escaped woman would be paralyzed by her past when facing her previous master without warning, especially if she hears trigger words or phrases, or sees items that she could not defend against during captivity. Post Traumatic Stress tends to blind a person to the now they are standing within, and their brain misfires so they believe they are in a much different place and time where they cannot fight back in many cases. The sight of a specific item can also cause the same extreme reaction that throws the person mentally into another time mentally when they were completely unable to protect their lives and bodies. Smells can also cause the same thing to happen. I've heard of combat vets returning from war who flip out over smelling burned gun powder used in fireworks. They think they are back in a full blown war zone without any way to escape mentally so long as the smell of gunpowder is present. If you learn about PTSD, you'll find many different triggers to choose between and utilize unfortunately.
Hearing repeated phrases from a period of extreme vulnerability/defenselessness before learning how to defend herself would throw her mentally back into that period before she learned to be strong and to defend herself. I survived abuse in my marriage when I was younger. My family rescued me and my infant son. they had to make sure that as the divorce proceeded, the beast could not see me without their presence. His words and smell caused flashbacks to happen to me with my ex until I found a way to break my responses to said triggers, and heal from the past so I did not have hard flashbacks that blinded me completely any longer. Abusers love to repeat certain types of phrases as a rule, so I could totally see the scenario playing out that you suggest. The hardest part of any healing is simply learning what the trigger phrases and words were so the victim can fight the habit of losing consciousness of where they actually are at that point. Desensitizing is difficult, but it can be done. Hope that helps you out somewhat.
- devoid and BronxWench
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That's slated for the code rewrite project we're engaged in at present. We'd like to have the tags in a field of their own, and give the summary the full 240 characters. That's tight enough without sharing!
A: I think this is the best news ever! Will be waiting with great anticipation for the new code re-writes to separate tags from the summary field. Any Idea how long until we'll be hearing about the launch of a new tag field, . . . next year maybe?
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That's what I'm saying, you need to be extra careful about meeting online persona's, I could be Freddy or a dancing penguin - either is terrifying...
A: Everyone online creates a fake persona it seems. Since 1992, I have crossed paths with an overwhelming number of con artists who try to get something out of anyone they can connive into believing they actually care.
The net does have some areas that are full of crazies of all classes unfortunately. At least here, the structure of our forum lacks the normal pressurized expectation of "pretending to fit in" garbage inherent with so many other places online. I find it refreshing that I can be my normal, opinionated self. Smart ass comments are allowed which is wonderful to get considering what a politically correct minefield the rest of the real world insists upon upholding as unspoken law. It is nice to be able to enjoy the freedom of speaking my mind without too much censure over it. So to all new folks, welcome to AFF's forums, and have fun letting your hair down and undoing those stuffy ties. Some of us might nibble a bit, but we don't really bite unless it is requested. ROFL -
An in depth world build crib I recently finalized to share. Hope this helps someone in need. It is sci-fi geared, but you can use it for fantasy easy enough with a little tweaking.
GENERALIZED OUTLINE- WORLD BUILDING BASICS: SCIENCE FICTION
ASTRONOMICAL/GEOLOGICAL SECTION:
PLANET NAME:
PLANET CLASS: Moon, Super terrestrial, Terrestrial (earthlike)Sub-Jovian, Jovian (Think Jupiter) Sub-Terrestrial (Think Venus or Mars for size):
If Terrestrial; is it like Earth now, or Past or Futuristic:
How is this planet the same or different from our planet?
Type of atmosphere?
GEOGRAPHY: Mountains/Deserts/Plains/Woodlands/ Swamp/ Oceans, ETC. Physical features include Size/ Gravity/Atmosphere/ Moon (s)/ Sun class (f5 lower strength white through f-9 lowest- to G class yellow (our sun I in this category= G1 to G9 (9 is weakest)or K class (red Dwarf’s which may be close to death =Plot added drama/ and constellations of note:
What natural resources exist (such as mining resources to build technology from if applicable)?
How are these resources utilized by the dominant species specifically?
CLIMATE: Distinct Seasons; Summer/Winter/Spring/ Fall/Dry/Wet/ & Types of Weather patterns: IE. Snow, Rain, Arid, Humid, Tropical,
Temperatures expected average during each Season:
FLORA AND FAUNA SECTION:
FOOD SOURCES: What do people and animals on planet eat?
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS: Types of livestock for work or food can your planet support based upon geography and climate?
What types of companion animals or Pets does your world have, if any?
WILD ANIMALS:
What kinds of animals does this planet support naturally? How do the main People and animals from the wilderness regions interact? Are wild animals carnivores, omnivores or Herbivores, or some of each type? What is the food chain like? Ex: herbivores need plants in large numbers to eat so the carnivores can eat them and the omnivores eat both meat and plants aka like humans do:
Are any of these wild life animals intelligent like your dominating species is intelligent?
PEOPLE OR RACES SECTION:
POPULATION SIZE:
World population:
City Population: (Only those needed for story line):
Town populations:
Village Populations:
SPECIFIC RACE (s) of note:
In what ratios? (I. E. 30% white skin, 15% black skin, 12% blue skin, 65% green skinned )
CULTURE AND SOCIETY: Villages or cities, rural or suburban, inner-city versus outer-city
(think New York with Brooklyn and other suburbs for inner outer city concept)
Language(s) spoken:
Specific cultural aspects: (Hunter Gatherer/ Farmer/ Industrialized?)
Holidays, Celebrations, Rites of Passage, Family Traditions?
What are the most important festivals and holidays?
How important to culture are these rituals and holidays?
Behaviors frowned upon?
Behaviors approved of?
Word or Phrases specific (Idioms) to the region in question?
Any known origins to the words or phrases used by people of this area?
Significance of following cultural enrichment forms:
Art:
Entertainment:
Leisure Activities:
Architecture:
Dress/Fashions:
What forms do these items take?
GENDER ROLES:Which gender is dominant or is there no dominance at all?
How does society enforce those gender roles through education, Through expected conformation of roles between the two genders?
Family structure:
Who raises and teaches children?
What levels of education exist on this planet or in a specific area?
What forms of specialized Education systems exist if any?
Who cooks meals by tradition?
Who cares for sick family members with non lethal colds?
Do extended families live together or is it Parents and children only in each dwelling?
Are there different types of food eaten in different social classes or unified to region (japanese eat stir fry/Americans eat Steak and potatoes as example)
SOCIAL CLASS: Warrior/spiritual, Wealthy/Working/Poor/Middle class Etc:
Where do each class of people live and do their dwellings vary from class to class?
Do clothing, personal items such as Jewelry or fashions vary based upon class and wealth?
Doe Hairstyles and similar things vary by class and what types are there? (Long or short hair? Beards or mustaches etc go here)
TIME SECTION:
What calender or other methods of measuring time exist? Include clocks and time pieces, or sun dials, as well as give some form of indication as to whether or not this society is aware of months and years passing. (All technology using species will have both clocks and calendars for certain as will any medieval societies have at least calenders if they have oceanic shipping and trade with outside races and nations)
RELIGION(S):
One God or Many? Name some and denote genders implied:
Spiritual philosophies:
Beliefs about Birth, Death, and Afterlife ?
Does culture condone Burial or Cremation, or something else?
Why?
Who is in charge of places of Worship?
Does this place have magic practices and if so how does that affect the world on a planetary wide basis as well as locally?
How does religion in general impact the world?
Will it have relevance in the plot line of the story? Or will it simply be a low key element that
helps define character behaviors in story line?
Do different races have different Gods?
Does Technology and religion co-exist peacefully or are there strong conflicts between the two factions?
TECHNOLOGY SECTION:
What levels of technology exist on this world (horse and carts/ or cars and planes/ Space ships and higher?)
Is technology the same planet wide or only in specific regions?
Is technology distributed based upon racial or economic factors or equally shared?
Is there a technological aspect that will have significant impact upon the story?
What is the major forms of transportation? (horse and carts/ or cars and planes/ Space ships?)
How does technological advances shape these forms of transportation?
What level of technology for weapons where applicable? (Forges/ assembly lines/Robot workers as examples)
Are there any weapons restrictions, and are those restrictions important to the plot line?
How has the technology (or magic) helped to build up or destroy the society that uses it? Is it still helping to build, or destroy its users?
What level of medicine exists?
Who does the healing?
What technology is involved, if any? (Shamans and witches and magic users would use herbs or crystals)
If technologically advanced what types of medical care is available to the people (Hospitals and insurance company concepts go here)
What types of diseases and illnesses are common?
Are they curable, or lethal?
POLITICS SECTION:
What kind of GOVERNMENT(s) exist in this world? (Story Relevance Specific) (POLITICS is always relevant to some degree in every story line!!!)
How, & why did this government come about?
Who makes and upholds the laws of the region?
What are the laws and the consequences for breaking them?
How are relationships between Countries? Are any currently at war with each other? If so, why?
What level of law enforcement exists?
Is there a structured legal system such as in America with lawyers and courts? Or is it ‘caught and hung same day’ variety (antiquated/medieval) system?
Governmental Questionnaire:
1) Does your planet have more than one government?
Sovereigns = King Queen, by birth with Dukes and Lords
democratically elected= president and congress as example
Elder’s council
Land holders council
dictatorships
ogliagarchy
Parliamentary (Limited Sovereign- must get elected groups agreement to do certain things)
Militant (yes it is different from Tyranny, A.K.A. Dictators)
Cooperative (a lot like Ogliagarchy, but a smaller group making the decisions)
3) Communications systems include mail, phone or other forms of vocal/written communications. Are there high tech telephones or is there a mailing system? How does it work for sending info like ‘Help, we’re being attacked! Send the militia!’ How does it work if calling home to say, “hey mom and dad I’m getting married next week, or I got that great new job!”?
4) taxation? How does it work? Purchases taxed only, Land, paychecks, possessions, birth fees? Be creative as you are not playing U.S.A. here. Example: a world that only taxes at time of birth, be it a sentient child or farm animal, all young are taxed which helps stop overpopulation. Perhaps a a historical nightmare that almost destroyed this particular species/planet would generate such a taxation formula.
5) Basic history...any major wars? Inter-species to interplanetary? More than one country/nation and governmental styles will have a past war history. First space voyage, famous treaties or constitutions with who signed and why? These are good to make obscure references to in novels that take place elsewhere if only to remind the reader of the exotic setting without having to bash readers over the head. Major holidays, interplanetary and galactic? Design a general interspecies calender, or national holiday calender depending on the genre writing.
6) Military.. Draft based or volunteer corps? Paid a good wage/ poor wage? Does this world have sets of treaties to provide troops in time of crisis in example Coalition sponsored or local provisions such as lord calling on vassals, or do they have full time experienced and trained army or similar liberation intentioned forces? Example : major ports and military platforms paid for By Coalition agreements in return for skills such as tech support, housing for warriors, docking/repair platforms in space etc...(sci fi examples)
7) Diplomatic corps) How many? Any special training/school system for this group, or do these diplomats train under one of the Halls (This is the term for schools based upon highly specific technology, medicine, textiles, political, police, computers or space travel in my sci-fi series which means trained by a journeyman level for the particular trade... It’s a guild based trade society kind as you can see....If you choose Hall style, is training off planet in technology space faring sci fi books formula, or planet sponsored (for home planets with resident halls such as fantasy based books would contain) give list of Halls and what they train to yourself to help insure plot consistencies and add details to plots through dialog etc... Or give list of educational expected forms such as home school to high school and college if possible.
8) technology, science and jobs section; Is technology eco friendly or industrial pollutants generating? Large city complexes with factories & refineries, or smaller information dominant social structures that have pleasant in home offices, smaller scientific designated areas versus agriculture regions.
9) Trade section/ large mass goods or specialized goods. Example, Are they like Corroscant from Star Wars.. Must import food and water to survive.. Or like Mon Calamari... Lots of exports, lesser imports due to self sufficiency. Export raw materials or finished, or refined goods. Taxes and regulations upon imports & exports where applicable. Community based trade without taxation such as a village would be seen as normal.
IN DEPTH JUDICIAL SYSTEM: What rules for theft or does this species idolize it? Violence (warrior species will probably have ritual battles and other forms of accepted violence and laws that uphold forms of ritualized violence)are there laws for or against sex crimes? Or any other form of judgement ruled system such as divorce, wills/probate, and drug slave trade laws or bans etc. and who enforces... Military <militant rule government system> private security groups (hired by government?) Regulation trained police or law enforcement agency that is government backed. Embezlment, fraud/perjury, domestic situations: I.E. traffic tickets/ monetary disputes., lawsuits, you get the idea.
***This information can be used in future scenarios to explore corruption and other forms of negative enforcement as well as to challenge our respective characters in different world settings in the future trust me. The weirder and/or bizarre the laws, governments, rituals, and technology you design; the more creative the plots for Characters and creations to build one heck of a lot of twists, plots and fun.. All members are expected to visit everyone else’s planet and learn it’s customs etc... before this set of games is done. Please fill out as much as you can and do research on different types of governments in any encyclopedia, online, or in book form to learn how to design your background setting for your books you write. This information does affect every aspect of social order and will have strong bearings upon plots which must have some form of social cohesion.
ECONOMICS:
What types of currency is used? (Money and coins/ credits or plastic cards/ or implanted chips/ gems or barter forms (a Chicken for a bag of grain example) Currency? What are denominations in credit/ money forms for your planetary or nations? Driads for Coalition as example. If you have major ports of call built into your system, you may have a star grouping form of currency such as example Star Wars driad, as well as an internal set of indigenous, or planetary specific currency. Are the monies based on metals, papers, fabrics, jewels and crystals, microchips, cards, or barter?
Is there more than 1 monetary system to be considered for this story line?
Trade? Name some Imports, exports (look at geography for natural resources to come up with these items- a farming community will trade grain and food stuffs with more industrialized areas for things like forged metal goods etc)
How are goods imported and exported? (By ship/truck/train/caravan/plane etc...)
Are there taxes on imports and exports?
How is local; trade carried out? (Barter may exist in local or a credit ledger you pay off when harvest time is done as example)
HISTORY WORLD AND LOCAL
Wars of significance?
Treaties of significance?
Major discoveries that have altered history
Natural disasters, and other events that have altered history?
Are these histories directly affecting your story overtly, or simply shaping character behaviors (same as religion)
If important to main story list some ways it will affect the characters and story line potentially.
History of interactions between different societies?
Important historical figures that influence a culture or society? In Example: religions created by, governments designed by? Laws that make differences? Metals found and forged for first time? (You get the idea here)
(*Myths from religions alive or defunct/ history / and politics are always relevant to the shaping of a character’s behavior and actions!)
FOR FANTASY ONLY SECTION:
MAGIC:
If there is magic on this world is there more than 1 type of magic (type is healing or warrior, or holy relic making, or getting from one place to another in examples)
How does magic work in your world? Cast and get immediate results or cast and wait, or perhaps you need a power object to do anything at all.
What are the limitations of magic? (Example magic might not work to resurrect the dead, but it might be able to recreate an arm if you lose one in a fight)
What Magic Taboos exist? (I.E. Creating a Frankenstein would be a taboo in many cultures)
Comments notes and story relevance outside of these peramiters to be considered in researching the particulars:
TIPS FOR SUCCESS!!!
Make Lists to get the basics down onto paper
Research items on your list that require it!
Maps: get graph paper and build your own maps or buy some D&D type maps and then do mental alterations or chop and pastes onto larger sheets to create a map to help you see where your characters are going to and coming from! No matter what genre you are writing, so pace and time laws do not change and therefore you will have to give space and time references to build a good story
Genealogy: Build bloodline maps for visual bloodline traits and such for future reference, even if not mentioned in the story per say, they can be great ways to add tension based upon race and other background hints you don’t go into in depth and they make for very interesting characters!
Snippets scenes Begin writing snippets of scenes using things like religion, history and all the compiled information to see how you can subtly add these things to a story line in tiny ways that make it more realistic, believable, as well as more engrossing to read.
Things like getting dressed based upon clothing styles and other things add visual interest and feel to a story line. Incorporating all this information contained inside this crib sheet is not needed or a good idea to add it all into the main story line as plot and scenes. But, it is helpful in keeping characters in a focused place with focused character behaviors and interactions with other non essential characters to add depth and strength to a plot or a scene! -
Mailing yourself something in snail mail is the same as getting a notary stamp once it goes through the US Postal Service. It is a legally binding document at that point so long as you never open the envelope, Magus. Poor man's patents do work very well in a court of law because of the Federal stamping system used makes all things legally binding in pretty much all the nations of the world. I doubt that emailing the original draft to yourself first would be anywhere near so binding because computer time stamps can get changed by a good hacker as I understand things.
Suppose I could print out an original copy of my various stories, and snail mail to myself before sharing. Then I would be able to win easy enough were I to share my originals, and they got ripped off. However, I am trying to get back into the business of being published because I really do need the second income. I'm not like J.K. Rowling who is constantly having to smack fan fiction sites and bloggers who decide to play with very well known Harry Potter trademarks by changing a gender or a name out and the rest is her writing skills. Money is always pretty tight in my home. Plus, I don't have a big publisher behind me either.
To be honest, the Urbis fiasco was avoidable, but I screwed up big time. Skipping the real poor man's patent because the novel was incomplete is what ruined my chances, and I hold myself fully accountable for the stupid mistake I made. It did not occur to me that the characters and chapters I had posted for initial feedback would be hijacked and used by another person who would take my early chapters and then wrote their own middle and final chapters version of the story I had begun. They did tweak the opening chapters I had shared, but not so much that I could miss my own writing style. To be honest, they ruined the original idea I had, but such is the way of life. My screw up taught me a valuable lesson I will never forget.
Guess you could say the first novel was far too close to my heart when it happened to me. Some day, I'll get over myself. ROFL. Just hasn't happened quite yet. I still have the 3 inch binder of the original cast notes, and all the research and biology stuff needed. I have done some tweaks to the character casts and have done a fair amount of biology and history mini documents, name changes, physical looks alterations, and can switch chapters around easy enough to make a new story that is still capable of carrying my original 5 novels through as I want them to be written. Some day I will get the 5 novels intended back on track, but as of yet, I simply have not been able to get past the theft due to my own sloppiness because someone stole my darlings and screwed up my novels due to being indecent human beings.
Tearing apart the first few chapters really hurts because I know someone else made money off of my hard work. Guess I became something of a scaredy cat, although I do not think any of the current originals in my computer as anywhere near as great as the chapters I posted on Urbis. ROFL. Goofy me still hurts over the theft by another writer, and probably always will. Some compliments are way too damned painful in the end. The income loss being the worst part when my kid was still pretty young, and I was struggling to feed him every single day. So yeah, I screwed up, and will never skip poor man's patents ever again so long as I live.
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I've had to file takedown notices for my published work. I found it on pirate sites, and did get it taken down. It's the stuff I'm publishing online, for free. I mean, really... just read it, and if you're needing to download it to read offline, just tell me. I'm pretty approachable, I think, and more than likely, I won't have an issue with it. It's the surreptitious stuff that bugs me.
A: It is sad you have to file take down notices. I do not know how to do those so I only write fan fiction because if it gets stolen, at least nobody can make any money off of it with any ease. Since they cannot make money, it is a lost cause outside of a training exercise in my book already. so, yeah, I happen to like to train myself to improve and relearn the language my stroke stripped from me temporarily. Since it cannot be profited off of, I figure the theft is not all that important at that point.
We do indeed have a timestamp of when a story was first published with us, and provided you haven't taken it down and reposted it, that date will be there forever. FFN does the same thing, and so does AO3. Any reputable site will do so, I find.
A: It is good that this site has the time stamps needed to make sure ownership can be proven. Was why I added that comment about leaving my work up while pursuing the plagiarizer. I made the mistake of yanking my work too fast because I did not know it would hinder my getting justice. Now I am more aware, so I recognize that it is always dangerous to post original work I hope to get published some day. the lack of concrit does not help me to feel safe posting original work that is actually good either. ROFL. So i hide my good writing our of a hard learned paranoia gained from the nightmare of the whole sale Urbis theft which happened over a decade ago.
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Damn right I download your stuff. A fair amount of the time I am where internet connections do not exist and I do like to reread yoir stuff. I do/have not passed it to anyone. The other site also taught me a lesson.
Fortunately there was enough of a heads up that I was able to download a few of the better authors for my reading pleasure.
It's like taking a favorite book along to pass the time!
B
A: I have known a couple people who find they are going into non internet areas, so would like to take a good book with them so to speak. As a writer, I can understand the intention to do no wrong in your situation. One of my friends asks me to email her my stories when she plans to go out of town to visit her daughter because said daughter does not have internet. In your case, there is no underhanded interest in profiting off of another writer's efforts.
However, not everyone who is downloading, is doing so for honorable reasons, and it is very unfair to the authors when someone steals their original tales to publish elsewhere as their own material. I personally would have left my stolen work up long enough to prove I was the original owner, and gone after the thief in such a case. I'm sure AFF has a time stamping system that would have made it clear who the real author was once the plagiarizer got reported also. Then again, after being robbed of characters and other forms of intellectual property, and doing everything wrong the last time, I learned how to stop others the right way. Proving ownership is the hardest part of stopping plagiarists.
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I don't think people have any real honor left in many quarters, Bronx. They see too many Banker gangsters/Wall Street Thugs getting bailed by the Feds instead of going to jail for rigging toxic assets. Now a lot of folks really think they can do all sorts of bad things and get by with it is my thought. I hope you will take precautions because the few things I've managed to read for you are all good reading. I'd hate for you to be the next victim.
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5: Engaging in any sexual position other than missionary is illegal in Washington D.C.
So Congress is breaking the law when they tell you to bend over and take it!
I could not have said it better nor could I ever agree more about congress with all those multi-millionaire morons up on Capitol hill were I to try very hard!
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Which is exactly why I never post any of my original story works anywhere public. I feel for Eon since I had it happen to me in 2003 when I posted some original story chapters at the Urbis writer's site.
I hope this does not sour her creativity toward writing original stories in the future, plus I hope she wins if she goes after said thief. -
Hopefully, things will slow down enough for me to do some reading, and I'd love to read your work!
A: LOL if you can find any of my messy fics considering how tiny the anime sector I am posted in happens to be. ROFL. I am certainly not into any of the popular genres or anime stories out there.
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Thank you! That's a wonderful compliment, and I do adore good, solid concrit. That's how I've managed to improve enough to get published, but I believe I can always improve. I'll never stop learning how to write, and that in and of itself is amazing, and wonderful.
A: You're most welcome. I feel the same way about writing as you do because there is endless things to learn about how to turn a phrase. I'll always make room to improve, and that is exactly what I aim to do for the rest of my life.
Now if I could just find people who had enough time to actually give me some real solid contrit . . . A whole different and gooey ball of wax there. ROFL. Oh well, I can keep comparing my writing to the published crowd, and strive to make the best possible tales from that set of lessons also. -
I fell in love with reading so early on that I actually can't remember learning how to read. I loved words and the way you could put them together to create new and wonderful stories. From there, it was a natural progression to writing my own stories.
Real life kept me from writing for a long time, but here I am again, and this time it's to stay.
A: Yep, and you have even become a published writer as I recall.
I think that is an admirable goal and proof in the pudding that you are a very good writer. I know I always enjoy reading your work and it is about the only stuff I'll review these days because I know you don't mind real reviews too. Hehehe -
I'm the poster child supreme for the Chinese zodiac I was born under to the core of my being. Iron Fanged dog which is mellow and loyal, but Gods help anyone that even slightly threatens my family and friends. Everyone who knows me personally says that I am the ultimate ankle biter. they describe my rare temper fits as I start at the tip of the head and in one bite leave nothing but bloody ankles and feet behind. Like any good blood hound, I track down and sniff out all pertinent trails/evidence to be had, and leave no stones unturned in seeking justice. So yeah, I am the epitome of the Chinese Double Whammy version Iron Fang Dog lunar zodiac wise. Is quite funny that I am a scary level poster child according to the people who did my lunar chart a few years back . . .
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I was told that imagination, art, and fiction writing was a waste of time by my dad when I was single digit aged. I was always in trouble with him for making up rhymes off the cuff when I was at home. He thought of it as being a liar so the punishment got pretty bad while he was alive, but that just made me dig in my heels and get a lot more determined in my life choice to prove him wrong. He died when I was twelve so I almost lost my life goal focus. However, in high school I got a really awesome English teacher who decided to have all my teachers snag my notebooks of hand written poetry and stories since I hated my math classes so much I could not stand them and began writing stories in such classes. ROFL. Next thing I knew, said English teacher had entered several of my poems in various contests, and I won several of them. I got to go to college for free, so picked print media. Because of the awards I had won, I had enough skill to work my way into an editor position at a micro press. All of that was pre-stroke of course.
I started writing yaoi fan fiction several years back because my younger son had a melt down because of having the hots for a fellow male classmate. Doesn't hurt that my pals still working in the publishing industry tell me that writing gay-rotica is the fastest way to get published again. I have numerous original and fan fiction stories. Some are completed, and even posted here. The fan fictions need a new edit/overhaul since they are still a tad raw to my sensibilities. Anyway, my fan fiction dip was helpful to my younger son who graduated high school without committing suicide over his crushes which is all I really care about in the long run.
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Veerrrrry good points.
All of it.At the end of the day, if you want really "good" sex scenes, you have to remember that your characters aren't a set of genitals with a personality inconveniently attached. (Even if your characters don't realize it! Haha!) It's the other way around.
A: Absolutely true. So in the final analysis, I think it comes down to how well you know the characters, and how true to their personality set you can be in creating a truly good sex scene, gender not withstanding.
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Interviewing people is a good start, but it's limited by what they know about themselves and the world they inhabit. For one thing, people are very likely to tell you the truth about what they would like to think about themselves. They may be telling you what they think is the truth, but that's only a small part of their inner world.
Remember, there are still females in this world with functioning sexual organs who think that the female orgasm is a myth. People's knowledge is limited by their experiences, and since the average person has few enough partners in a lifetime to count on one hand, and open talk of sexuality is often highly taboo.... Well, their opinion about what is "normal" is probably skewed, at least slightly. (Though interviewing people is useful for other reasons... You can learn their mannerisms, speech patterns, etc., and if the character is written in third-person, this may be all you need for non-sexual scenes! Besides, some of the most interesting conflicts revolve around the difference between what people think they are and what they actually are.)IMO, erotica really is one of the hardest things to write, no matter who you are. Everyone has had sex, so everyone thinks they know what it is. But at the same time, most people don't talk openly about sex with other people and generally don't have tons of sexual partners in their lifetime (certainly not enough to be considered a random enough sample for them to be able to judge what's "normal" in the general population). Sex is also one of those things that people are really terrified that they are doing "wrong". The result of all this complicated sociology is that people are often very opinionated about what's "right" without really understanding that sexual experiences are, in reality, hugely varied and individual. Even two people of the same gender, sexual orientation, race, socioeconomic status, and social background may have radically different approaches, attitudes, experiences, desires, and even anatomy! So even if you do all your "legwork" you're going to have people saying that what you write doesn't make sense because it doesn't match up with their own personal, highly unique experiences.
A: You hit the nail on the head repeatedly within this set of passages, KH Woodward. Perspectives and belief systems will always be subjective. Trying to distinguish the facts from the ideals during an interview process can be especially difficult for those who are not super observant about body language. The public persona is never the truth of anyone's needs, desires, or darkest drives, but you can get hints about such things from the cues that all people give off with their body. A person who is comfortable in their own skin is usually an older person who has made peace with their dark side. They have an open and easy going body language. A person who is not comfortable with coming clean will always display self protective body language. From that posture alone, you can get a good sense about how much is wishful thinking, and what is truth if you practice reading body language long enough. What is proclaimed true, can also be reflected as the exact opposite. Duality is a big chunk of real human nature.
Social status and similar things do shape sexuality more often than many erotica writers appreciate. A poor person will be staggered by satin sheets and opulence so much as to be thrown out of their own comfort zone as an example. So, you have made a lot of great points in your detailed post. Different people do have very different experiences in their sexuality and that is what makes writing erotica the most challenging. I've seen way too much erotica that comes across as lame because there is no variety to it. One seme and one uke without change gets very old in my opinion concerning BL publication offerings I've read as research materials. Real humans cannot be molded into a one size fits all stereotype. So, psychology reigns supreme in who will like, and who will hate anything another human being writes.
If a writer is fortunate, they are not part of the sexually repressed moral majority. When talking honestly and bluntly about biological needs are not taboo, the relaxation levels remind me of talking about just another day in the office. Not many people have such a calm outlook about sex, and it is a very threatening topic to many people. Sometimes, the simple act of being shop talk oriented in how you ask questions can prove the most beneficial for everyone. Still, for many, sexuality is subconsciously viewed as a sin. Therefore the act of writing erotica, or talking about sex becomes a case of rebellion against one's own deepest beliefs created by your actual upbringing. The genuinely liberated lose their body consciousness so handle everything as an exploration of authentic experience by putting on another person's shoes to better understand their world view. The repressed cannot fully do the same. They have trouble in how they handle sexuality and erotica at times. Practice makes perfect, and the unease can be overcome because of simply writing a lot until you desensitize, or so I believe.
Age, maturity, attitudes, and experience will always play a vital role in writing good erotica. Different people have very different things that turn them on, and finding a good fit can be difficult for any couple, no matter their proclivities when you are writing about their sexual interactions. Taking off the blinders does count when you are seeking to do a good erotic scene. Mental flexibility based upon acceptance is vital to making the connection that different people have different needs. Characters do have to be viewed as independent people. Without such flexibility, you get the boy's skin with a girl inside kind of gay males story telling that bores me to tears. Giving the men room to be kinky or domineering in their undercurrents allows a lot of different angles to get written I think. Having characters acting like realistic human beings with their own unique agendas takes a lot more experience in real life, but it is worth it to the writer, and the readers.
Nobody writes truly great sex scenes when they first start out. Love of the characters and a passion for their characters love evolution can help make a scene really good. I've read things on occasion that leaped out and grabbed me despite being outside of my normal erotica specific triggers. The writer honestly adored their characters enough to merge with the character's perceived personality. The standard mold of erotica was enhanced by the writer's heart that came through in such cases.
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This is complete speculation, but what the heck: I'd say that unlike Gaelic and Elvish, Japanese is a language to which a lot of your readers--that is, anime fans--have had at least some exposure but in which most of them probably lack substantial expertise. And fans of anything have a tendency to argue vehemently over things that they have just a little bit of knowledge about.
A: Makes as much sense as a genuine possibility as any other theory getting posed here, George.
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It's funny, because I have one story peppered with a bit of Gaelic, and another couple that have some dialogue in elven, and I rarely get the kind of grumbling pro or con that Japanese seems to bring out. I wonder if it's the extreme fascination we have for all things Japanese, a fascination I understand that they share in terms of our Western culture?
A: Anything is possible. Elves have always been associated with Gaelic language for so long that multiple generations have strong associations of Gaelic with all things Elvin. I think that it does not catch the same flack because of the strong association of language with the beings. Their long standing Gaelic name has been written in the original form in many published books for over 150 years. Tradition has carried over into most modern fantasy and mythology books which probably plays a major role in the second language acceptance for such stories.
I've never had any problem reading sci fi stories that contain *alien (always made up languages*), Gaelic, African, or any other language in dialog. Authors often used foreign words through the late 80's. Additions of such languages was the main gimmick to remind readers that the beings were speaking in their native tongues and nobody cried foul. Even if readers had no idea what the word meant before checking the book's back glossary, it was very much normal to check for glossaries when buying books for our fun reading. When the PC police began throwing fits in earnest during the late80's and got super active in the 90's, the number of books with multiple languages present evaporated overnight.
The anger with Japanese word editions might be a sign of PC conditioning to become super sensitive. So many issues have gotten the super hard push to be politically correct that everything said or done has the dangerous potential to make people uncomfortable. Innocently intended additions of another language within dialog may actually fit that category, and so people are getting offended due to the belief that only creatures with centuries of tradition may have more than one tongue to speak.
In the ancient past, (1940-ish to 1988) everyone understood such language additions were the highest form of compliment. Now . . . everything is viewed as a cause for offense as often as not. So, I think it very possible that the political correctness crammed down our throats from birth to death since the late 80's could have quite a bit to do with the new aversion. The fear of offending has done much to stifle many forms of art over the last 2 decades.
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It would be sad to have to remove your work because of harrassment from reviewers. I think that you should write in the style you feel most comfortable with and ignore the more picky weeaboos, probably of which a majority of do not know proper Japanese anyway.
I know I give Japanese pop stars / anime voice actors a break when they speak English just because I'd rather find the bright side of the matter (ie: its endearing that they try) rather than be annoyed that what they are saying sometimes sounds downright silly and under practiced to my American born ears. Our languges are very different and mastering one from the other can be very difficult.
I will say this though, I'd rather not sound silly to a Japanese person by slaughtering their language at every oppertunity with frivolity rather than practicing, learning and thinking about what I want to say before I say it. I think that people generally absorb culture through osmosis, meaning they don't think, they just do, or on this case speak or write.
A: I decide that, outside of constantly used address specific words which the cannon characters do abuse in the show, I am removing the Japanese words. I already have started that project. I even posted in my Promote a Story thread and the Rivalry Series Review reply thread that I am trying to get a balance because of a couple of upset reviews over the Japanese words that I originally added to make the Japanese pro side happy. I can only do so much to try and find a happy medium after all. I'm planning to spend tomorrow replacing the chapters that I have managed to get revised today. We shall see how that turns out. I don't get a lot of traffic for the stories so I doubt it will make much difference.
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Hello, everyone. After so many months of being trapped in an unexpected limbo due to real world crisis scenarios, I am back to do some long overdue writing and editing. Due to some serious considerations about the complaints involving the requested Japanese words that I added to the multiple stories I have uploaded here in their entirety, I am going to be trying to get some kind of happy medium going with all the stories. Expect all the story chapters to get revised without any Japanese words outside of san, kun, oyaji, aniki, and otouto variety direct address terms that the cannon characters do habitually use when speaking to each other. The rest are going to be history as fast as I can humanly strip every other word out of the chapters and repost everything ASAP.
I will be attempting to get a new chapter for each of the two incomplete stories posted over the next couple of weeks. I still have a lull in the complicated real world situation I have not quite gotten fully cleared out of my life, and I plan to take full advantage of it while it exists. My family still comes first, but I am rearing to gt the honeymoon scenes finished between Takumi and Keisuke. Cross your fingers I can make it before the next round of real life drowns me. A massive revision and updating for the complete series is also underway.
To those who have followed this series, and my move to AFF, thanks so much for the patience in waiting so long for me to get back to writing and revising to get rid of the sticky out of synch moments now that I am returning some of the deleted sex scenes and miscellaneous inconsistencies that are getting created due to the new material getting returned to the completed novels. I really appreciate the generosity extended by those of you who have stayed in contact via e-mail.
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For those who have been following my Rivalry Revealed series: I apologize for the unexpectedly long hiatus from writing. The real world always trumps writing unfortunately. I am going to endeavor to get a new chapter 20 up while I have a lull in the real world scenarios that have been distracting me by the end of next week. Outside of that new chapter, I am going to be focused on cleaning up some content that has sparked a number of complaints in reviews.
I am going to be revising and stripping the Japanese words from all the stories in the Rivalry series which several fans from FFN pleaded with me to add. I will leave words like san and kun in the direct dialog, along with Aniki and Otouto since those are the words Ryosuke and Keisuke most often use when speaking to each other. I am doing this in hopes of finding a happy medium for those who are irritated by the addition of requested Japanese words that happened when I did the first overhaul during my move to this site.
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Good to know, Bronx. I don't even own a cell phone so have never really had much experience with text speak. Only one person I know ever sends text speak and I have to call her and find out what the heck she meant with every message she sends. She finally stopped texting me in shorthand after a few dozen line by line explanations were demanded by yours truly. Any time she wants to communicate with me, she calls to avoid the headache of translation, or writes messages in complete sentences when dealing with me.
Guess my first guess that people have forgotten they have a full blown language at their disposal was truer than I have ever suspected in this case.
Kind of depressing to learn it is not the rare and random situation I often hope it is any longer.
Lack of reviews.
in Reviews
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A: Good to know. I've run across a couple stories during my time here that did not have much needed tagging in the summary, or the tags were reserved for the very bottom of the specific chapter so I've gotten a couple of rough surprises while reading to be honest. A genuine tag field would remove many excuses for those who like to shock the crap out of the rest of us just because they think they can. I'll be looking forward to the changes, so I can repair my summaries/tags once that is launched at some point in the future.
No need to put the staff into any extra over worked conditions than you guys already have.