wanderingaddict

Woah wow bench I was noooot expecting your name to pop up on my WoW section again! Thanks for taking another gamble on one of my WoWfics, I remembered you’d never played. But also, hearing that I can take something I love and make it accessible enough to excite someone with zero experience of it is probably one of the best compliments a boy-writer can get! Waha, okay thanks again! This was something that was a source of moderate consternation for me, since my usual partner in crime (hint: he’s an ornery argentinian) refused to read the het stuff – even tertiarily – so it was on me to be like “please please please don’t let me have accidentally had impossible positions in this 4-way.” So… yeah you’re the only person I’ve had actually comment on that part of it. It’s a relief to hear it’s at least tolerable! The other part I really appreciate is seeing how the characters look from outside my own point of view. I’m always surprised when I try to convey a character’s… um… character(!) and it actually seems to come through. ty for making my day quite a bit better!

A place for the transient nobody wonders about to comment on stuff people sad about things

heh, I'm glad I could brighten your day a bit! I wanted to add a little more, since that review was only 6 chapters or so and I do need to set these up in sections of ten (for my own sake so I don't lose where I am). just to get this part out of the way, and because it's something I always... um, try to consider? or at least examine critically; there've been a number of places where someone not versed the games could really get lost. I say this partly because this is new to me in general; I don't usually read anything from fandoms I'm not well-versed in (and usually if I'm approaching something new I go and wiki the thing beforehand just out of my own curiosity). obviously there are some things that can sail overhead whenever a person steps into something they don't know, and there are a bunch of places where your own additions actually add a ton! having Elder Navean know Grigori is really fitting, ties the Circle and Elanee to the actual plotline (instead of having them just be random side-cahracters where the PC is like "k, why the fuck didn't you druids fix this yourselves 20 years ago?" and whatnot), and also gives depth to the all the characters involved in general. it ties the Mere to Neverwinter, which in turn keeps the swamp relevant (again, instead of being the backwater dump that nobody should logically care about). hah, I know I keep reiterating that point, but god damn that just annoyed me so much about the game. the Neverwinter Woods, which in the first game was one of the most extensive, enthralling areas, is right nearby; Neverwinter City AND Luskan are both explored (to a degree, at least) and yet we keep getting told this crappy murky swamp, that was crappy and murky since EVER, is "important"? tsk. anyways! yeah it keeps it relevant - there are people there, it's not a worthless strip of land that could sink into the sea and literally nobody would notice was missing, and your tying your OCs to these NPCs really adds a lot of depth. where it falls a little flat - and I know this is mostly a matter of convenience and brevity on your part - is like when Tae and Elanee are talking to Navean at the Sky Mirror and it goes like "Hi Navean!" and he's like "lol Hi Tae!" and then it just cuts to "after his speech, Tae went on with her day" and I was like "lol wait, waaaaaiiit! I DON"T KNOW WHAT HE SAID OMG" so yeah, I mean, I'm just poking a little fun at that part there. it wasn't like bad or anything, and I know these were written an age ago, but it's happened a couple times thus far and being inclusive for those who don't know a story is something I try really hard for so yeah. just wanted to point out that matter there. I mean, it was probably something super bland and boring and "dire" (and I use that word loosely, because I don't recall feeling interested or invested in anything even once that entire game), and totally appropriate to skim over - but maaaaybe not skip entirely? just something to consider in your future writing, if you ever catch yourself doing it. otherwise it is pretty need to see what even minor fleshing out of these characters can do. I really cannot stress enough how much I hated them. all of them. esepxially after Hordes of the Underdark, and playing other, GOOD games like Fable and Summoner and rpgs that made you like the side-chars. to have these assholes just keep fighting and bickering and none of them were interesting or unique or even really that friendly? it was just like gaaaaaaaaawd damnit could you twits shut up for thirty seconds? so yeah, all the little interactions are what really brighten my day with this story. like Elanee pulling Duncan away when he's about to freak out on all the soldiers in his inn, or whenever Tae and Neeshka have their little sistery-thing going on. it really adds a lot to them! oh yeah, too - one other complaint; Duncan is a half-elf and yet he calls Elanee "lass" - it makes sense with Kelgar and Sand, Sand because he's totes high and mighty and all that and Kelgar because that's how he talks, but at that time for Duncan, who's like at most equal-ish to Elanee in age, it's a little like "eh?" particularly since she's a pretty elf woman giving him attention and I know that I never, ever want to call a girl who's attention I'm enjoying something that would imply I'm old enough to be her father. it's just a line that feels like it was written too-strongly from Tae's perspective, you know?

Totes understandable, and also a lot of what I was suggesting. Having Legends/Myths/Lore is also a little annoying to me as well, because unless it's something like the Illiad specifically, many of the stories, imo, that would fit into the criteria of Legends/Myths/Lore does not come from any particular source (and more often than not, nowadays, is an amaglamation of whatever people have collected). At the very least, if it's not "original" enough for the originals section, a lot of the content that people have actually uploaded either does not belong in the Books archive or also can be so varied from the original myth that it could hardly be called the same "fandom" (if those even exist for this type of content, which can be so varied with each retelling). If I were to write a story about Titania, Queen of the Fae, and I only really have some encyclopedia references while the bulk of the story is original, it just doesn't make sense to go under the "Books" section and find Legends/Myths/Lore there. My personal preference would having it just be one of the sub-categories, like vampires and slash under Originals, which would nicely divide apart the Fantasy, Historical, and then Legends/Myths/Lore categories that can really overlap sometimes.

Hey, I have a story that's been moved around since the archive cleanup. I totally get why, it's one I'm not really sure where to put myself. It's "Dyad: Kreshjur and Kajin" and is very mythical and original and deals with a lot of legend lore, but there's not a category for that in the "Originals" section. Could we get something like that for that area? I know that there's a "Legends/Myths/Lore" section in the book category, but honestly I thnik that if someone's writing about a public domain myth that's as old as the hills it's probably going to be largely original anyways (and/or there are a ton of "original" stories that are about as "original" as the myth they're modeling themselves after - just a few names are changed). I know it's a messy category, but imo these are messy stories that can slop over a ton of areas. I use a lot of historical Egyptian stuff, make a lot of references to ancient religions, but also have magic be real and use Atlantis and crap so it's not really historical, has very much an RPG aspect to it, and also is focused on a romance and is gay so I have like 6 categories to choose from and none that I'd really be happy with (especially with Legends/Myths/Lore over in the Books section). So yeah, was wondering that's possible/acceptable to you guys just have Legends/Myths/Lore simply be a category under Originals and condensce it all there.

woah, hey though, are the four you're talking about the same ones as your four Palantis dudes? heh, if so then I don't really know how applicable anything I said really is, because I mean a made-up society could be... well, anything!

I don't have any more comments either.

well okay sure if you're going to go with that then I'm sure it's scarier to wake up without your arms and legs, or to have blood start oozing from all your pores or to have a big hairy black man named Bubba who's breath smells like old shrimp cuddle up behind you in a dark alley and whisper "Hmm, I like it when they squeal" but relatively being attacked by an armed man/armed group of strangers is far cry more dangerous/deadly than getting in a fistfight with a lone homophobe of equal size and strength. lawlz, yeah though, it is very true that crazy nazi redneck dudes are as apt to attack anyone as they are a gay dude so

haha, no, actually, it's much, MUCH more common than people think Snight! well, actually I don't know what your interpretation of media portrayal is, but it's been pretty solidly reported that about 20% of people (in the U.S. at least) have had some sort of bisexual experience at some point in their life. I suppose that if you're looking at it in the media as "50% of all people have a bicurious adventure" then sure, no, not that much, but 20% seems to be the most consistent number, and is certainly a lot higher than the "1 in 10" estimation of gay people and the "nobody actually does that!" of the heteronormative viewpoint. and the comment about going into the physical stature was because a lot of people tend to forget about the fact that gay dudes can be as intimidating (physically) as any other man, what with the usual stereotype of a gay man being "mincy, wearing women's jeans and a skintight rainbow shirt." and, lawlz, like, yeah, most of the really bad cases of attacks *are* a gang of rednecks/white trash out actively looking for trouble, and what with fags having a reputation for being sissies it makes them a soft target. that'd be some pretty (understandably) crazy stuff though, and being attacked with weapons is, you know, super scary and super deadly and stuff. but, too, Snight, I was also just emphasizing the point that if a lone, obviously gay guy goes to a bar, but looks intimidating enough/like he could handle himself (or if he AND his boyfriend both look tough enough) then there's simply a far less likely chance that some lone homophobic vigilante is going to try and start something, as opposed to a skinny ballet dude walking in (one who doesn't even have to be gay). and like, it's generally a *lot* more okay for a straight-acting gay guy to be flirtatious with a straight dude than it is for an effeminate one. the mechanism behind this is that "binary rejection"- that is "oh, this guy, he's manly, he's manly like me, I'm manly, it's more okay because obviously he's cool and a dude and nothing will happen, 'cause he's a dude and cool" where he can accept it as okay because it's not demasculating to act this way with this dude, whereas with the more effeminate guy it's much more like "this guy's not "manly," so if he's not "manly" and not "a man" that means that he must be "a woman" amd to flirt with him is *not* manly" so in that case it IS very demasculating. lawlz that's probably waaay too complex to get into for just a bit of story research though, and it does compete with all the times that more progressive/self-assured (sexuality wise) guys who are just fine with being flirted with when they know (internally) that it's not real/nobody cares and/or the straight dudes who are just happy to get *any* attention so yeah. with regards to your story specifically, Palantean Writer, something to think about is the argument that the one who remains "closted" would almost suffer the most, internally speaking. I mean, I know nothing about him, but it seems like he'd have to answer the question of something like "why can't you be as honest as all these other guys" and so little comments could potentially be a lot more painful for him than any of the others, who'd have had to already face these things head-on.

I've never known anyone who was physically attacked because of their sexuality in my area. I like a lot of what Snight emphasized, and I'd fully agree save for some minor clarifications. What he said about the camp-gay is definitely true, except a camp-gay probably know how and when and where he'd need to defend himself and know how to avoid the potential "attack" places when necessary, but on the other hand attacks don't usually just "happen" out of the blue unless the attackers are like, crazy nazi sympathizers or something, at which point they'll just attack anyone (as in a case in New York a few years back where two [iranian?] brothers were walking arm-in-arm (because that's okay in their culture for family to do that) and some white power guys attacked one with a baseball bat while shouting homosexual slurs). but people aren't stupid, and the huge majority of the time the camp-gay will avoid whatever situation just on his own. what Snight sort of touched on, and I think should have gone into a little bit more detail about, is that it really does depend on the personality and physical stature of the guy. if the camp guy's huge and muscular, it doesn't matter how queen-y he is if he's got biceps that are the size of basketballs. very few dudes are gonna pick a fight with him. same with any of the other guys too- if they don't scream "mincing faggot!" then an actual physical attack is probably... not very likely to happen in a normal, not-super-homophobic setting. and of course, any of the ones that can easily pass as straight have very little to fear, as the only way a stranger would know that they were gay is if they're actually making out with another dude in a public place, in which case there'd probably be other people around to intervene and stuff too, and again, the physical stature thing is pretty important. if they look like they could fuck you up just as easily as you could them, then most dudes will probably lay off. verbal's much grayer though. I'm bi, 6'4'', and nobody knows that I dig dudes too unless I specifically say, so I can't really say that I've experienced any sort of homophobic slurs myself. plus, I mean, they don't really affect me. being a part of the online community, where everyone uses the word "gay" as a pejorative term to be like "This stupid gay-ass game is such a faggot piece of shit!" so such things don't bother me so much (because I know from experience that the gamer doesn't mean "this game is full of cocksucking and assplay!" they mean "this game is stupid and annoying" and there's really very little *actual* homophobia on their part). I know a lot of gay dudes who get really upset about the word faggot and stuff though, so depending on... well pretty much how effeminate the guy is, the more cutting it will be (because in my experience, the more masculine guys don't particularly care because their "manhood" isn't really called into question, unlike the more feminine type of guy. but then maybe I just know a bunch of extremely sensitive effeminate dudes and the three "manly" gay dudes I know just have hides of stone. lawlz, whatever, I mean, you can certainly do whatever you want! just giving you some food for thought is all). I can't say anything about the workplace and being passed over for promotions, but again, as long as the dude doesn't "flaunt" his sexuality, it's probably not going to matter. depending on how progressive the area is, he might not be the only out gay person at his office (and if he works at a big company, 1 in 10 people are gay statistically so it'd be pretty likely that there are at least one or two others). and I heartily agree with Snight saying that the campy dude would have it the worst, to the point of being verbally harassed quite viciously. this is especially true if he is the type that wants to flirt with the guys around him, which if there's even one straight guy in the group who's uncomfortable with it, it's pretty likely to blow up in his face. closeted dudes and ones who can usually pass as straight don't exactly just flirt super-heavily with the guys around them (unless it's like, stag night and guy-on-guy flirting is par for the course), so it's generally not even an issue unless one gay guy "takes it too far" (but then, again, that really depends on the straight dude's definition of "too far" and whether or not the gay dude can read the signs of what's what). campy dudes usually try and flirt pretty heavily though, and young ones, ones who can't read body cues, and the ones who get too caught up in *their* idea of the situation can... sometimes plow across the lines of personal boundaries without realizing just how many rules they're violating. I mean, in my own experience, the few campy dudes I've actually met and talked to were also very touchy-feely and sort of... hrmm... "desperate" for male physical contact, and because I *am* bi and I don't send out all the "dude, you're a guy, and I'm a guy, and your physical proximity/male touch of a sexual nature is super gross" body language, they got like... disgustingly clingy to the point that even I was like, bordering on exploding at them myself and being like "look fucker, we just met like, 20 minutes ago, there's no way that you hovering your hands around me is okay." and I mean, that's me as a bi dude, someone who actually isn't repulsed/rejective of male touch in general. a straight guy is likely to get *really* pissed, either at physical touch or continuous flirtation, because what's going through his head is "this fag won't let off of me, god, I don't like dudes, get the fuck away." or at least, the only confrontations *I've* seen of homosexuality/homophobia involve things like that. unwanted attention and stuff, where the straight dude is honestly sort of justified (to some extent) in his reaction. of course, I've also seen the opposite, where once it becomes known that one guy is gay, the straight dudes all around him start flirting with him and sometimes get up to some pretty wild things, depending on how comfortable they feel with him, so there's that for you, lawlz, it honestly again goes back to the gay dude's personality. most straight guys are generally uncomfortable around the more effeminate gay dudes, and really have a pretty strong aversion to them, but the gay guys who are more masculine or "pass" better are either like, "yeah he's cool, he's gay but he's cool" or... heh, I don't know how to describe it other than "a potential for a little bicurious exploration" (whether that exploration consists of just a little bit of over the top flirting, drunk, over the top fondling, or... like, crazy amounts of "more" depends on the dude). but that's like, covering ALL possible tangents, lawlz, I can't say which is more likely than any other. homophobia really depends on the level of progressiveness in whatever city you set your dudes in, along with the people the surround themselves with and how "flamboyant" their actions are. I mean, honestly, there are effeminate straight dudes, and really flamboyant straight dudes, for that matter, who face a LOT more ridicule than a lot of masculine gay dudes have, so like I said it really depends on how vehemently a straight guy feels he needs to "reject" the "gay influence" or whatever. plus, heh, "who he hangs out with" because if he's a member of the football team and he's a big burly guy, surrounded by other big burly guys who are his "compadres" and a dude tries to pick a fight, he's going to get the absolute shit beat outta him when he finds out that "the faggot's" friends don't seem to agree with him. and lawlz, same goes for if there's a really fem gay dude who hangs out with a bunch of girls- the straight guy who insults him may find himself suddenly the object of scorn and ridicule from a bunch of girls (which is counter to what he wants, which is to score with them) so, lawlz, yeah, really complex stuff. fun to think about. food for you, for thought!

Heh, I just want to say first off that I’m only doing this because Snight said I wouldn’t. so there. 1. How about a brief introduction of yourself? sup, my handle’s wanderingaddict. It’s a name that came up on whim when I first started getting into the fanfiction some years ago, but never really wanted to make the effort to be a part of any community. 2. Fabulous! And what got you into fanfiction to begin with? fact that I’m bi and I love reading stories about awesomer, cooler things that SHOULD have happened when the normal writers failed. 3. I see, so what kind of fanfiction do you like to write? um… what kind? Genre-wise I suppose I really like videogame fiction, because it usually adds another layer of depth to the existing universe. Or maybe I should answer “slash” because I do really like well-done slash, or maybe I should answer porn-slash because I like a romance/sex element to my stories? Super vague. So really though, “action/adventure-slash-romance based on existing universes” is what I like to write. 4. Do you tend to write the same pairings/characters? Or are you a fandom whore? lawlz, videogames are all about OCs. They don’t really give you much to work with, most of the time, so it usually takes a lot with what little is there in the first place. Really not much of a whore though- I suppose I honestly usually just look and see one “most likely” couple and dismiss ALL other pairings as unable to compare based on that alone. 5. What is your more popular fanfic and why do you think people like it so? Ceald Amothein by far, and… god because it’s cheesy, girl, and full of some real hardcore sex and emotional turmoil, and chicks just eat that up, and it’s got a ton of action and hardcore sex and guys just eat that up? lawlz I don’t know, I mean, that’s why *I* like it at least. 6. Forget other people, what is the fanfic you've written you're most proud of? My personal triumph is Dyad: Kreshjur and Kajin because there’s a lotta really subtle research that’s gone into that one, plus it’s like 30k words and written all in the span of one month and I look at it and am just like “holy balls how the hell did I do that much” 7. Do you find writing easy? Hard? What are the most difficult aspects of writing you struggle with? Not particularly, no. It’s mostly a matter of time, like JayDee said. There’s so much to do, all the time, with movies and games and drawing and blah blah blah, it’s like, holy fuck it takes a lot to just dump all that and sit down and write. 8. Write a few sentences of so of your favorite pairing or character. “You a fag?” Grimmjaw asked, after a moment. Ichigo’s cheeks burned. “So what if I am?” he asked demandingly, his shoulders tense. Grimmjaw shrugged a shoulder. “Doesn’t really matter. Just wondering.” 9. Are there any fanfiction trends/clichés you can't stand or are just sick of? I really, really, really hate… nothing I guess. Everything maybe. Lawlz I can’t decide. I could say mary sues that just get the world on a platter, or complain about wimpy bottoms that get raped and raped and raped, and…. Well okay, I suppose as common as it is to complain about that, I’ll complain about it some more. I am *really* tired of how people (re: girls) seem to think that a whiney, useless little cum-rag is at all, in any way shape or form, attractive. Blech. 10. Are you guilty of any of the fanfiction trends/clichés you now hate? Or any other ones? lol, *sigh* yes. And they shall remain so nameless, buried so deep, that I will never, ever mention them here. 11. What was the first fandom you wrote for? Do you still like/participate in it? honestly, I swear to god it was Inuyasha, and it was an Inuyasha/Kagome sex fic. And god no, I don’t. that show is so baaaad and the only thing good it ever had was Kouga and Sesshoumaru, except Kouga became pointless and dumb and Sesshourmaru stopped murdering everything and everyone he ever met which made me 12. Name your OTPs or most frequently written pairings/characters and explain what it is about them you love to write. My OTP is Grimmjaw/Ichigo, if it wasn’t apparent already. I’ve never written about them, but jesus Christ I don’t understand how anyone at *all* familiar with the show couldn’t have looked at the action between the two of them and just be like “holy crap does Grimmjaw want to fuck that!” I mean, good god Grimmjaw is the only person in the entire show who actually seems to be even remotely like Ichigo. I mean, Renji *kind* of is, but Renji’s also a poor man’s Grimmjaw. Like, even Inuoe who claims to “understand him soooo much” doesn’t grasp the fact that Ichigo LIKES to fight! Unfortunately, most people also fail to grasp that in a Grim/Ichi relationship, Ichigo might not top, but he’s *always* dom. lol you know what, okay, so the pick that I've written about the most *personally* are Fawnheart's Erandil and Eraik, and even though I love the fact that they're best friends and would (almost) never, ever do each other in cannon, I... I still can't help writing loads of dirty porn for her where all her straight men just suddenly go gay. 13. What would you call your writing "style"? I don’t really think I have a “style” per se. General fantasy style maybe? There’s nothing noteworthy about it to me. 14. Do you read other people's fanfic? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most? yes I do! Recently it’s only been WoW stuff because I’ve been so busy, but from time to time I dip my toe back into Bleach looking for an awesome Grim/Ichi fic. The good ones usually never get finished though so sadface 15. Name one thing you'd LOVE to write, but have been too afraid or shy to do. I’m not “shy” about writing it, so much, but it works well enough so yes: A grim/ichi fic of my own, one which will stand head and shoulders above all other grim/ichi fics and make half of the Bleach slash section bow their heads in shame is something I’d LOVE to do. 16. Do you have trouble taking criticism? Or worse yet, do you have the dreaded bloated ego? lawlz, no. I wish I could get criticism (meaningful criticism of course) but it’s pretty rare, and like few times I do it usually consists of “well if I were writing I’d do this!” which is just like “??? Yeah but you’re not? Also, “because it’s cool” isn’t really much of a reason??” so whatever, more sadfaces I guess :( 17. When you write, is there anything that helps? Music? Quiet room? Repairing toaster ovens? naw. I don’t believe in any of that stuff. Just sit down and do it or don’t. 18. What inspires you? READING GOOD FIC OMG. I fucking LOVE good fics, I mean, jesus Christ, if I read about some chick getting the absolute shit pounded outta her (and I find that hetero is usually better written than slash) I’m like HOLY FUCK I GOTTA TRANSFER THIS TO M/M and then it’s a fun, exciting race to see how I can capture something like that myself, in my own words, because God Damn does M/M need some quality sex. And quality romance, only I also just enjoy that because most of my fics are built around sex for one reason or another, despite how “low key” some of the might be? Maybe other people disagree with me about that. or like, non-porn wise I’m always like “woooah, this was fun to read AND there’s no sex??? How is this possible???” and then it’s ANOTHER fun race to figure out what they did and why and how all the threads tied together into one awesome overarching plot and it’s so gorgeous and I start to drool a little and if I met the author in real life I’d have no qualms about breaking both their legs and tying them to a chair and having a personal write-slave forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and 19. Lastly, how would you sum up your fanfiction experiences and yourself as a writer? holy shit. I dunno, I’m so much more irreverent now that I ever was before. Hah, I hardly even think of writing as an art anymore. Well, I mean, I “know” in my head that good stuff, really GOOD stuff totally is. It’s someone who’s taken a million and a half special threads and lovingly sewn each one together But… at the same time I’ve reached the point where it’s just kinda like “this is all a bunch of BS anyways so lawlz whateves!” and I just do whatever and go my merry way and be happy instead of mad or preachy or whatever else all the time. So yeah mostly I treat this as something fun to do in my spare time, a way to be a little creative, and let most things just slide off my back without much care. This is probably due to this magical woman named Fawnheart who I am super-awesome-ultra buddies with and I'm all like "Rawr rawr!" and she's all like "lawlz whatever wonderboy" only in an aussie accent and she's so goofy and I am not at ALL ashamed to say I heart her something fierce and want her back at this site and not being abducted by wallabies or whatever the fuck she complains about happening to her in Aussieland. 20. Tag some friends, because they'll have you for it. Go Fawnikins, I choose you! (it'll be a while though, I know, what with kangaroos climbing the powerlines or whatever).

I feel like a lot of this topic's already been summed up pretty well in peoples' previous posts, but sometimes there's a recent spat of people that are pretty vocal about asking for reviews, so... If I read something I like, I always make an effort to leave a review, either right after I've read it or to return to it and leave one later (and yeah, heh, sometimes it takes a week or two). If I've read something that I didn't particularly feel anything for but am in a good mood and charitable, I'll still make the effort to leave *something*. If some time has passed however, and I've noticed that an author is sucking up a lotta reviews, but not like, leaving *anything* I start to get a little annoyed, because that's really quite rude. And it's not like "oh I left you a review and you didn't review my story!" because hey, I'm pretty bi, so I read m/f and m/m and understand that an author of one doesn't want to read a story of from the other so it's just like "yeah, that's cool, I get that." But when you're submitting stuff in a specific fandom, ostensibly for people from that fandom to comment on, and I don't see a review from you *anywhere* then that's just plain ol' selfish. I mean, you're posting on a site that allows reviewing and you (ostensibly) want them yourself, so who are you to just sit back and expect of others things you don't do on your own? Of course, the fandoms that I keep track of are small enough to sorta manage this pretty easily, but just for me personally, there's gotta be some giving in order to receive ya know? And I mean, like I said, I don't care if you don't give to me, just show that you're giving to *someone* and eventually you'll start getting more reviews of your own. And really I suppose that last part just holds true in general, really. I've also noticed what people were talking about earlier too, with the seeming "shift" in... sorta the amount AND the quality of reviews about three or four years ago. I know some sections are still going incredibly strong, like the M/M slash section is just churning stuff out on both readers and writers parts every day, but other places sometimes feel like a ghost town. I know I can't say why. It's interesting to think about though...

lol yeah I don't know if it's just the way you write the elves (focusing on their hair, their appearance, their tenderness towards each other) but they do come across as, well, pretty effete Sand much moreso than Vale. Vale actually struck me at the start as sort of rugged and masculine, but even though I have a vague image of Sane in my head (I always thought he looked sorta like Elrond from LotR) the mention of the beads and the way he always has his hair styled a little differently makes me just think... haha, of him as effemninate. it's funny, actually, because I really have next to no memory of the NwN2 game, other than that I was really disappointed with all the companions and that you couldn't get the giant spider as a pet, hah, so this is really fun. it's neat, too, the route you took with this, having it cover years. it really emphasizes the fact that these dudes are long-lived elves. I have to say that I was majorly disappointed that Vale didn't get a chance to tear Gend in half though, lawlz, I never liked him even in the game when he tries to romance you and just goes on and on about his dead wife or whatever and I was all just like "look dude I don't care, you're booooring" anyways I like Vale. aww, poor guy. I hope he doesn't spend too much time blaming himself, and instead realizes that it should be rightfully placed on the shoulders of all the people who made decisions for him, as though he were somehow incapable of knowing what's best for himself.

lol I too noticed how chilly it felt just reading the story, but then we have about a foot of snow coming down right not here so maybe it was just appropriate to the mood? anyways I love snow and reading about stories set in snowy weather so this was great. I also wanted to reply here in the forums because I noticed what Melrick was talking about too. what they failed to point out is sort of the idea that the "," <blank> is a descriptor of the preceeding conversation, and as such part of the full thought. to a native english speaker, it's something that can be really jarring, which is why they were talking about that "full stop" idea, because a period in the "middle" of a sentence like that is kinda like saying STOP! right as the person gets going. just explaining the psychology behind it, if you didn't know, and to help you remember in the future. not actually criticizing you for it ^.^ edit- ooooo, too, *technicially* you ARE correct in your use of it, in that the example they used, the "Jeddek replied glacially" COULD be an entire afterthought on its own, so yeah, you ARE RIGHT. haha, lawlz, that one example they used was bad, because, yeah, it IS technically okay, because that is an acceptable break between two full thoughts- Jeddek's words, and that Jeddek deliperately replied slowly. buuuut... that's kind of a gray area because I don't think many people would readily grasp something like that. it's easier, reading a story, to jump that "soft break" and read it as one full sentence. this-- “I would rather bed a naga myrmidon.” Jeddek declared caustically, scowling at those bright cerulean eyes that found amusement in everything. would be a much better example of a full stop that jarrs, as the word "declare" is not something we use as an action in and of itself. so yeah. just explaining, if they weren't clear enough, because I like what you write and want you to continue ^.^

yeah, I saw that on the wiki page, which is why I was like "where the hell is this coming from because I've seriously never heard mentioned anywhere else, ever." so I googled it, but aside from that quote on the NwN forums complaining in passing, there wasn't a thing (and I didn't care THAT much, lawlz) so I was all like HMM and asked my roomie, and with his greater historical knowedge of the DnD releases I was able to piece what'd happened together. I honestly liked the author of the Eilistreae novels much more than Salvatore. Salvatore gets... kinda weird, as he progresses with Drizzt. the chick who had to kill Eilistrae (seriously, she says it in her author's note that her hands were tied) is pretty decent. easily much better than the other two authors in the series before her. the first novels of Drizzt, the first three novels/the Homeland volume (I think it's called) are actually worth it- because they explore him being born completely different deep in Drow society, and it's kind of fun because he's not superman (not yet ). but, seriously, like the moment he starts adventuring on the surface, in the first few chapters of the novel in the next series he single-handedly slays a milennia-old ice dragon and gets some huge armor upgrades and it's just like "... okay, what." kind of a disconnect from how powerless he was before. and my roommate was saying that 3.5 was the moneymaker and not much else because there was hardly a year or two between its release and 4e, which, no matter how you look at it, is kind of a little suspicious, you gotta admit that. honestly, there are only two alternative interpretations of elves that I have ever actually thought did them justice, and the crazy eyebrows of WoW, while realistically kind of weird, are stylistically an amazing way of readily defining elves from humans, without going into crazy artistic liscence. the only other style that I ever thought really justified them was one of the Magic: the Gathering sets, but anyways. I think your characters are prolly gonna be a ton of fun, and it'll be neat to learn about all these classes I've never heard of. lawlz, like, seriously, I live and breathe the story-lore of Faerun and the Sword Coast, but I don't know a damn thing about the actual game/any of the mechanics outside of the original NwN.

lol, my roommate is actually very adamant that elves should be short, so those are his words that tall elves are stupid, not mine we've actually argued about whether elves can be tall (I like em tall and I like em short, so it was just me defending the idea). I just think it's ridiculous to have elves be... be what, slender, pretty humans? I mean, exact same heights, sans ten pounds with some pointy ears? please, give me my eyebrowed tall, lanky hotties from WoW any day over that boring ol' bull. ah well though. 4e has a lot of things that are really hard for people to swallow. and did you read the book Snight? the author deliberately tried to keep it vague so that individual people can end it however they want.

lol this seemed appropriate to copy+paste here. I asked my roommate about this a couple hours ago. this was our conversation he blathers inanely for a bit. just ignore the WoW stuff. ShadowsOfXanthos: raawrr!! ShadowsOfXanthos: IM SO EXCITED Uberfisch Priest: hi ShadowsOfXanthos: hahaha, long time typing for two letters ShadowsOfXanthos: mmm, all my characters feel so fresh so clean Uberfisch Priest: leveling is really easy Uberfisch Priest: I'm 24 in like, 2 days of play ShadowsOfXanthos: yeah it is ShadowsOfXanthos: i like it ShadowsOfXanthos: cuz honestly ShadowsOfXanthos: it gets harder from 25-50 ShadowsOfXanthos: so at 50 it feels normal ShadowsOfXanthos: but you can get a bunch of peeps up a level or 3 Uberfisch Priest: haha Uberfisch Priest: yeah ShadowsOfXanthos: no im stoked... finally have a reason to try Elemental shamanism ShadowsOfXanthos: BWAHAHA ShadowsOfXanthos: WA HA HA HA Uberfisch Priest: /ywan ShadowsOfXanthos: haha ShadowsOfXanthos: his Name is Stromberad ShadowsOfXanthos: hes a dwarf ShadowsOfXanthos: hes dumb, and his name is an Anagram for Storm Beard ShadowsOfXanthos: it also sounds like Stongbad ShadowsOfXanthos: it makes me smile!! *sigh* Uberfisch Priest: ewwwwwww Uberfisch Priest: dwaaaarves ShadowsOfXanthos: I know right!? ShadowsOfXanthos: i never wanted a real one till I wanted a joke character ShadowsOfXanthos: i figure he missfires more than Renji ShadowsOfXanthos: and when he gets drunk and angry, he exudes static electricit so his hair turns into a puff ball around his face Uberfisch Priest: pfft you're do trystfrf ShadowsOfXanthos: i dont catch your meaning there Uberfisch Priest: so retarded ShadowsOfXanthos: hahaha ShadowsOfXanthos: i know! its awesome.... *sigh* Uberfisch Priest: hey how tall are elves in DnD? ShadowsOfXanthos: 4'10 ShadowsOfXanthos: to maybe...5'4 ShadowsOfXanthos: for men Uberfisch Priest: dude I know right Uberfisch Priest: this guy is saying wood elves can hit 6'4" Uberfisch Priest: that almost all elves can ShadowsOfXanthos: no thats almost verbatum out of the PLayer's hand book Uberfisch Priest: "Races of Faerun is 3.5E, and official published material. Checking the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3.0E)... Yup! Vital Statistics in page 39 clearly states "Most characters in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting use the normal height and weight values given on Table 6-6: Random Height and Weight, page 93 of the Player's Handbook. However, elves in Faerûn are tall and thin, so all elves except drow use the human height and the half-elven weight, subtracting 10 pounds from the actual weight. Half-elves use the human height and the half-elven weight entries. Drow use the elven height and weight entries." They might be short in most D&D lore, but Faerûn clearly states otherwise. Apparently pretty much everybody missed this? Or was it too much of a hassle to remember? Oh, well." ShadowsOfXanthos: i mean i've always thought Elves should be smaller than humans, its what makes there agilty so spectacular Uberfisch Priest: yeah Uberfisch Priest: I know Uberfisch Priest: I don't get what he's talking about ShadowsOfXanthos: hmm, no according to, my 3edition manual ShadowsOfXanthos: 3.5 miiiight be different ShadowsOfXanthos: but it still seems extremely doubtful ShadowsOfXanthos: also what dont you get, its pretty clear hes saying they should use Human statistics. Uberfisch Priest: yeah I get that Uberfisch Priest: what I'm saying is that I don't get how Uberfisch Priest: he gets elves being tall Uberfisch Priest: when like, every single piece of DnD stuff ever says that elves are short ShadowsOfXanthos: cuz in one book they give them a taller stature Uberfisch Priest: haha do you have a pdf version of your player handbook? ShadowsOfXanthos: not anymore ShadowsOfXanthos: i do wanna check the 3rd edition and 4th edition Faerun compendiums Uberfisch Priest: huh Uberfisch Priest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_%28Dungeons_&_Dragons%29#Physique_.283rd_edition.29 Uberfisch Priest: forgotten realms/faerun elves ARE different Uberfisch Priest: weird ShadowsOfXanthos: now ima have to pick up my dusty old tomes when I get back home Uberfisch Priest: haha no, apparently 3rd edition wasn't used for Forgotten Realms? Uberfisch Priest: what's even weirder is that Salvatore uses 3rd edition for all his stories Uberfisch Priest: whcich are set in forgotten realms Uberfisch Priest: so forgotten realms elves, except drow, use human height talbes Uberfisch Priest: ooooh my god Uberfisch Priest: dude Uberfisch Priest: so this demoness Uberfisch Priest: tied up three night elf men in the middle of the woods Uberfisch Priest: and the text for killing her is "Foul demon dominatrix! Get her heart!" ShadowsOfXanthos: no I have the 3rd edition manual ShadowsOfXanthos: thats the version that I played most ShadowsOfXanthos: the one i know everything about ShadowsOfXanthos: also the 3.5 stuff really didnt change anything except rangers Uberfisch Priest: no this is the Forgotten Realms edition? Uberfisch Priest: read the wiki page Uberfisch Priest: about erlf physique ShadowsOfXanthos: yeah, Forgotten Realms were the original D&D reals ShadowsOfXanthos: I did ShadowsOfXanthos: so 1st -4th editions Uberfisch Priest: well I think it's really funny that Salvatore uses the third edition rule-set exclusively Uberfisch Priest: in fact, I wonder if they dumped the original tall elves Uberfisch Priest: because in the latest book where they kill Eilistreae the elves are short ShadowsOfXanthos: elves were never tall Uberfisch Priest: it says on Wiki that "the forgotten realms elves were tall" ShadowsOfXanthos: yeah.... but wheres the reference ShadowsOfXanthos: cuz I still dont believe it ShadowsOfXanthos: the might be tall NOW, as of the world shift ShadowsOfXanthos: which actually........ Uberfisch Priest: what? no ShadowsOfXanthos: no ShadowsOfXanthos: no the elves are STILL short Uberfisch Priest: I'm saying I think there's a "Forgotten Realms" edition Uberfisch Priest: like, a non DnD general edition Uberfisch Priest: that uses elves as tall ShadowsOfXanthos: Forgotten realms is ALL the editions ShadowsOfXanthos: its a campaign setting and is Refurbished at the same time as General D&D Uberfisch Priest: and there's a thread in the neverwinter nights forums where one person complaining about how halflings uddenly grew a foot? Uberfisch Priest: is chastised by someone saying "look nobody cared when elves shrank" Uberfisch Priest: so there's a height discrepancy somewhere ShadowsOfXanthos: so when 3rd edition came out a whole bunch of new Forgotten realms books were released along with that updating rules etc ShadowsOfXanthos: yeah no that world shift jogged a memory ShadowsOfXanthos: so here is what happened ShadowsOfXanthos: basically just like the cataclysm Faerun was "broken: ShadowsOfXanthos: it colided with another sister realm Uberfisch Priest: are you going to finish? ShadowsOfXanthos: haha sry lorgs acsking about WoW ShadowsOfXanthos: harde to hold 2 convos and youll be around later than him Uberfisch Priest: I'm going to my uncle's soon Uberfisch Priest: and his questions are boring nad lame ShadowsOfXanthos: haha ShadowsOfXanthos: anywho ShadowsOfXanthos: yeah they split the elves into 2 races ShadowsOfXanthos: in Forgotten realms ShadowsOfXanthos: the Woodelves and the Eladrin ShadowsOfXanthos: Elves and the Eladrin ShadowsOfXanthos: so maybe ONE of those are tall now and the others arent Uberfisch Priest: in 4th edition? ShadowsOfXanthos: yeah ShadowsOfXanthos: and honstly 3.5 is NOT something you should base any lore off of AT ALL ShadowsOfXanthos: it came out for 3 reasons ShadowsOfXanthos: #1 to Fix the Ranger and Druid classes to be competative ShadowsOfXanthos: #2 to give WotC some extra fund for 4th ShadowsOfXanthos: #3 to keep people busy with some pre-forth edition lore changes ShadowsOfXanthos: which MIGHT have included an elf change ShadowsOfXanthos: think about it like this ShadowsOfXanthos: 1st Editon comes out 1980s or so ShadowsOfXanthos: 2nd edition comes out early 1990s ShadowsOfXanthos: 3rd edition in 2001 I think ShadowsOfXanthos: and then 3,5 in 2008 ShadowsOfXanthos: 4th edition in 2009... ShadowsOfXanthos: maybe it was 2007 for 3rd ShadowsOfXanthos: 3.5 ShadowsOfXanthos: you can look up the times... but to put it bluntly... 3.5 is an outlier of an edition at best, and a terrible argueing point Uberfisch Priest: hahaha Uberfisch Priest: huh Uberfisch Priest: "Elves are slender, athletic folk about as tall as humans. They have the same range of complexions as humans," Uberfisch Priest: http://dnd4.com/phb#7 Uberfisch Priest: 4th edition so really... yeah, after 4e elves are tall? lol this was fun. why are your threads always so much fun, Snight?

you know, what's even crazier is that the face of DnD, the Salvatore books, all use the third edition ruleset for elves, making them all shorties, and even the latest books, the ones about the "death" of Eilisteae and all the other gods and the "making the way" for 4th edition (that are also set in Faerun?) all also have the elves as shortstacks. I wonder if they had a change of heart and saw this as a way to make their elves stand out? or if the general edition DnD has simply appropriated the Sword Coast for their own purposes? it's really weird, because this is like... kind of a big discrepancy you know? you'd think they'd have some sorta clear statement about their reasonings for this

haha or maybe that's what they charged to handle the hardwood of others! haha, anyways, I guess we're both kinda right? so it breaks down like this: the elves of Forgotten Realms (and by extension Faerun) ARE taller and use human height tables, which is a pretty big change from the standard third edition handbook of DnD general. NwN games use the general edition for their elves because they wanted it to be used for general DnD play, *and* the Drizzt book elves are all based off of general third edition race-rules, rather than Forgottem Realms (maybe they were before?) so all the elves in the "general lore" tend to be based off of those rules, set by that precedent, rather than the actual height tables outlined in the Forgotten Realms handbooks. huh, the things you learn eh?

is this a separate edition you're checking? because I'm, like, really, really, really... really certain the elves in DnD lore are short. like, they hit 5 feet flat (on average). I mean, in every NwN game they're short, in all the Drizzt books they're short, and like, in all the art they're short? haha, and yeah, just the simple fact that they're called wood elves (heh, heh, "wood") is one of the few cases that I would simply never be able to stop laughing during sex (wood elf got wood! would be my snickering mantra the entire time).

lol, I'm the total opposite, Wenchy. I either like my elves lanky and tall as all get-out (6'4" and above baby!) or cute and tiny and basically tall halflings. the half-water elemental is pretty crazy though. in fact, all of these guys are pretty crazy, heh, what with an asimir and a tiefling in the same party and the crazy multi-classing action. plus I like the idea of her shadow moving on its own, lawlz. so much humor will be coming from that, I predict.

it's okay. it's cute. but like, wow, ridiculous much? that's like, some crazy height difference from 90% of the other elves of Faerun! you should keep it though. you can just say that his father was a tree.

dude your wood elf is HUGE! 6'4"?? DnD elves like, barely top 5 feet!

yes, and elves have them just as often!

I imagine that- just as there's a hearty population of young, starry-eyed teenage human girls loving the idea of an ages old elf tenderly loving them as they age, there are a healthy number of elven girls loving the idea of tenderly loving a human man as he ages