Cuzosu

My bf would like to dress up as Vash from Trigun, though he and his brother-in-law agreed (my bf's sister and I saw a neat anime version that inspired us to ask) to cosplay as Mario and Luigi. Personally, one of the cosplays I want to do is Yuffie Kisaragi from Final Fantasy VII, although I'm not against others. (My hyper potion would make the cosplay very much in character, though in the process it would probably drive anyone near me nuts.)

Thespian Extraterrestrials Run Roughshod Across Realm's Idols; "Uncool!" "Massacre!" Y E T I

"Tough" Kellie Pickler

Hm...I could be guilty, but there again, I don't think I've ever stayed up just to see what would happen. I know that if I'm the only person awake, I can't sleep until everything that should be turned off is. And sometimes I get insomnia and stay up for at least 36 hours, often several times in a row. (Not to mention that if I'm really into something, I'll ignore my sleepiness until I hit that plateau and am suddenly wide awake again.) Have you ever discussed bodily functions during a holiday meal with family? My grandmother started this family habit, but she's worse than the rest of us. If someone gets up to use the restroom during the meal, when they return she'll ask if they went #1 or #2 and if it was good, bad, how big, etc. For a long time this made my step sisters nauseous, but I guess I must've been used to it because I don't remember ever turning a hair. (There again, my mom tells me that when I was little, she was shopping with me and I went down a different aisle, then came back calling out, "Mommy, I farted!"--so maybe I'm the one who started the tradition. She says there was an old couple in the aisle then that sniffed and looked down their noses at her for my behavior, but everyone else in the aisle was laughing.)

You're quite welcome. "All children are essentially criminal." -- Dennis Diderot "Hell is other people." -- Jean Paul Sartre (if I spelled his name right....) From Saiyuki Reload (volume 2), a conversation between Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku: "Do you know what a doppelganger is?" "Something about a siren getting louder, right?" "...that's the Doppler Effect, Gojyo." "It's that thing, right, where they say there are three people in the world who look exactly like you." "One person, Gojyo. And it's said that if you meet him, one of you will die." "For real? Which one?" "You, monkey brain! The original always...wait." "This is stupid and so are you." In your sword, all I see is fear. When you attack, “you are afraid to cut someone.” When you defend, “you are afraid of getting cut.” When you protect, “you are afraid they will die.” You’re sword if filled with fear. It’s pathetic, you can’t give into fear in a fight. It won’t help you at all. When you’re attacking think, “I will cut you.” When you’re defending think, “I won’t let you hit me.” When you’re protecting someone think, “I will not let you die.” Kisuke Urahara (Bleach) Sanity? Sorry, but I don’t remember having such a useless thing in the first place. Zaraki Kenpachi (Bleach) There is no such thing as perfect in this world. That may sound cliche, but it’s the truth. The average person admires perfection and seeks to obtain it. But what’s the point of achieving perfection? There is none. Nothing. Not a single thing. I spit on perfection! If something is perfect, then there is nothing left. There is no room for imagination. No place left for that person to gain additional knowledge or abilities. Do you know what that means? For scientists such as us, perfection only brings despair. It is our job to create things more wonderful than anything before them, but never to obtain perfection. A scientist must be a person who finds ecstasy while suffering from that antinomy. In short, the moment that foolishness left your mouth and reached my ears, you had already lost. Of course, that’s assuming you are a scientist. Kurotsuchi Mayuri (Bleach)

Gotta be armed and ready to write, right? I like psychological conflicts as long as I'm reading about them, not dealing with them in person. This is probably something I get from my dad, who went to college for degrees in psychology and construction (and figured out that he doesn't have the temperament to be a counselor, so he doesn't use his psychology degree). I just find a lot of really good quotes that inspire me--and have a lot of conversations with friends that inspire me to write. This being the case, why not share them and give others a shot at being pounced on and mauled by a muse?

I always seem to start such a thread as this wherever I go, probably because I like to share the things that make me want to write--or which make me laugh or think. Yes, I have quite a collection. No, I don't always know where they came from, so if you do, please tell me. What goes around usually gets dizzy and falls over. --? (on being surrounded) "I prefer to call it a target-rich environment." --this is from either March to the Sea or March to the Stars, both of which are by David Weber and John Ringo Whom the Gods would recruit, they first tick off. --back cover of Oath of Swords by David Weber "It was the Gods who invented theft in the first place." --p. 38 The Shining Ones by David Eddings "Defenestrated. It means getting thrown out of a window--a high one, usually. It doesn't accomplish very much to push somebody out of a ground-floor window." The Shining Ones by David Eddings Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in his or her shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. --? Whoever said nothing's impossible should try slamming a revolving door. --? Fight crime: shoot back. --? "How do you prove that we exist? Maybe we don't exist." --Vivi, from Final Fantasy IX "Whether we're real or not, let's not mope about it. You're pathetic." --Albel Nox, from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time The only thing worse than when the gods don't answer your prayers is when they do. - from one of Catherine Asaro's novels, if I remember right "A tisket, a tasket, a head in a basket. No matter how you try, it cannot answer the questions you ask it." --in David Weber and John Ringo's novel, We Few. "I have eyes in the front of my head!" "What, so you can see me when I'm standing nose to nose with you?" --because sometimes my friends and I can't talk right to save our lives "I'm the teacher. You're the student. I'm supposed to teach. You're supposed to sit there and look stupid." --Althalus, from David and Leigh Eddings' The Redemption of Althalus "...It's not quite enough to justify a declaration of war just yet." "War?" Bevier exclaimed. "Naturally." Ulath shrugged. "If Otha's been involving himself in the internal affairs of the western Elene kingdoms, that's cause enough to go east and do war upon him." "I've always liked that expression," Kalten said. "'Do war.' It sounds so permanent--and so messy." "We don't need justification if you really want to go destroy Zemoch, Ulath," Tynian said. "We don't?" "Nobody ever got around to drawing up a peace treaty after the Zemoch invasion five hundred years ago. Technically, we're still at war with Otha--aren't we, my Lord of Lenda?" "Probably, but resuming hostilities after a five-hundred-year truce might be a little hard to justify." "We've just been resting up, my Lord." Tynian shrugged. "I don't know about these other gentlemen, but I feel fairly well rested now." -- The Sapphire Rose by David Eddings The Death of the Necromancer (Martha Wells) quotes: .... "This nonchalant attitude is beginning to wear." "Would you prefer me to twitch hysterically?" "If you could bring yourself to express such an honest and genuine sentiment as hysteria...." -- p. 295 "I have a plan." This was true. "I just don't know whether it will actually work or not." This, unfortunately, was also true. -- p. 322 .... You sound like Nicholas, she told herself. When did you become so cynical? Sometime after sorcerers started trying to kill me, she answered. Sometime after I met Nicholas. -- p. 168 .... If this fails and I get us all arrested, I won't have to put a pistol to my head because Nicholas will kill me. And in all fairness I'll just have to let him. -- p. 181 .... "Perhaps we can find another horror for you to fight at a more convenient time." -- p. 183 Nicholas was too tired to curse Fate at the moment. He would have to remember to do it later. -- p. 191 Paths Not Taken by Simon R. Green-- "Appalling fellow. I wouldn't piss down his throat if his heart was on fire." Paths Not Taken-- "Sometimes I think the dinosaurs died out just to spite me." Paths Not Taken-- .... "This place is bound to be packed with all kinds of people you detest the most. I'm sure you'll find someone worth upsetting in some thoroughly appalling and vindictive way." The Moon's Shadow (Catherine Asaro) -- "Shall we spend eternity in a hell of our ancestors' making? At the least, we should make our own hells." The Sapphire Rose by David Eddings-- "I understand that congratulations are in order, my friend, but I don't know that I'd take off my armor until you get to know her better." Domes of Fire by David Eddings-- "Our Holy Mother reels from crisis to crisis like a drunken sailor." Gate of the Gods by Martha Wells-- The man brings new meaning to the word odious. And also the word obvious, for that matter. A conversation between my cousin and me, some years back. Yamesu: *gets halfway thru saying something* Cuzo: *taps foot impatiently, waits for Yamesu to finish* Yamesu: *taps foot with finger, tilts head to the side* What is that supposed to be? Cuzo: *right off the top of her head* That's my foot on its way to kick your ass. Two classmates of mine, during a math class. Ashleigh: I'm going on a dating panel. Mandy: You wanna date a camel?! I'm not a complete idiot; some parts are missing. --? The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. --? And thus I clothe my naked villainy With old odd ends, stol'n forth of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil. ~William Shakespeare I want you to put more life into your dying. -- Samuel Goldwyn "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." (Animal Crackers) Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive. - Wallace Irwin "He used statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts; for support rather than illumination." --? "I commend my soul to any god that can find it." - Moist von Lipwig, Going Postal, a Terry Pratchett book As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two... -- Sir Norman Wisdom I'm back... and you knew I was coming. On my way here I passed a cinema with the sign 'The Mummy Returns'. -- Margaret Thatcher It was nine o' clock at night and Tremaine was trying to find a way to kill herself that would bring a verdict of natural causes in court when someone knocked on the door. --first sentence of Martha Wells' book The Wizard Hunters The most nerve-racking commissions, Madeline thought, were the ones that required going in through the front door. This front door was simply more imposing than most. --first paragraph of Martha Wells' The Death of the Necromancer "Your acidic nature has already corroded my personality." --from my unposted original story, Into the Wind "I'm saying that you can use both idiots and scissors, but you can't let an idiot use scissors." - Sebastian in the manga/anime Black Butler (or in Japanese, Kuroshitsuji) "I don't care what you are doing, so much as the idiotic way that you are doing it." - Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII "Tell Yuffie that this is my phone. She has no right to call it" - Vincent to Cloud, Advent Children during the tribute to FFVII "I've got to follow them - I am their leader." - Alexandre Ledru-Rollin "I was born modest; not all over, but in spots." - Mark Twain "My specialty is detached malevolence." - Alice Roosevelt Longworth "In Chinese, the word for crisis is wei ji, composed of the character wei, which means danger, and ji, which means opportunity." - Jan Wong "No one provokes me with impunity." (Or, in Latin, "Nemo me impune lacessit." It has the translation in my quote book, too.) - motto of Scotland "(Courage) a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it." - William T. Sherman "I am not absent-minded. It is the presence of mind that makes me unaware of everything else." - G. K. Chesterson "When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself." - Plato "It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes. It takes more gut and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own." - Jessamyn West "I can't handle him right now." "Is it the change of environment?" "Pretty sure it's just his usual stupidity." --a friend (shikyokage on FFnet) and me, brainstorming a conversation for a collaboration fic I dreamt I was a moron. --Squall from Final Fantasy VIII Stormforce by Chris Bunch "You wish?" Ben Dill said politely to the Musth. "To inquire as to why you are being stupid." "Just my normal procedure." "You are a pilot," Alikhan said. "Yet you have volunteered to play ground-worm. That does not make sense." "Because," Dill said, "like I told Garvin, back on Cumbre, I'm bored waiting for trouble to come to me." "I see. That is stupid indeed," Alikhan said. "But no more stupid than my joining the Force. Why did you not ask me if I wanted to be stupider than I already am?" "To be real honest," Ben said thoughtfully, "I didn't even think about it. ...." Stormforce by Chris Bunch "Shuddup, everybody," Dill said, standing. From somewhere, he'd found another full pitcher. He clambered on top of the table, and started singing the age-old song: Did you ever think when a hearse went by That you might be the next to die? Then, changing tempo: The worms crawl in The worms crawl out The worms dance tangos All over your snout. He went back to speech: "A hymn to the next of us to go south: "Hymn...hymn...screw him..." *eyes dinner, turns to the person sitting next to them* "I'd rather eat you than whatever the hell this is, and I don't even like you." --a bit of inspiration I bounced off shikyokage *deep breath* "Mm, I love the smell of paranoia in the morning.... Don't you?" *death glares* "If looks could kill, I'd live forever." --more brainstorming with shikyokage "Is it so much of a challenge to believe that I can be civil for two seconds?" "At a time or altogether?" --I cannot for the life of me remember where I first found this. "You look like you're trying to glare enlightenment out of that tree." "It's obviously denying me infinite wisdom and knowledge." "Well maybe if you didn't threaten it, it would be nicer?" ... "But since it bothers you so much perhaps you can ask me and I'll ask the tree." --I think I found this in a Fire Emblem fic on FFnet (called Trust, if I remember right)... Off the top of my head one day: "If we are what we eat, you're dead meat and I'm a wild animal." "What's that make him?" "A limp noodle." And from a lovely Air Gear yaoi fic I found.... (Title: I Love You, I Love You, I Love You, and I Hate You) (Of course the yaoi pair had jumped apart upon hearing their teammates' voices nearby....) "What are you two doing?" Onigiri asked as they stopped in front of the two boys. "Nothing you fucking pig." The shark answered in irritation. "So…what are you guys doing still hanging around?" Kazu asked as he desperately hoped for a change in subject. "Well we decided to go to the café for a bit after so..." Ikki began to explain. "I thought you went home already Kazu?" "Uh..." Before the blond could come up with an excuse Onigiri had already substituted his own theory. "I bet he was with that girl of his..." (Who of course is a guy, lol.) Agito raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Kazu. "Where'd she go? I wanna meet her!" Ikki yelled, looking around for any sight of this mysterious woman. "She ran away sensing idiots nearby..." (When in reality "she" is sitting next to him. XD) From Saiyuki (the Reload series, I think): Sha Gojyo: "There's always some dipshit...." Cho Hakkai: "Now, Gojyo--let's not replace tact with honesty." Lady Astor: If you were my husband, I'd give you poison. Winston Churchill: If you were my wife, I'd drink it. Parliament member: Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease. Disraeli: That depends, Sir, on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress. Walton Kerr: He had delusions of adequacy. William Falkner of Ernest Hemingway: He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary. Moses Hadas: Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it. Mark Twain: I did not attend his funeral, but I wrote a nice letter saying I approved of it. George Bernard Shaw: I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend...if you have one. Winston Churchill: Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second...if there is one. Mark Twain: Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it? Mae West: His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" "What's the matter? Did you look in the mirror?" --one of many insults traded by my cousin 'su, one of my brothers and me "It seems that at least your mouth is well off...." -from the first volume of Fate/Stay Night "...'twill turn your eyeballs black and blue." - Brendan Behan "It seldom pays to be rude. It never pays to be only half-rude." - Norman Douglas "Lord Birkenhead is very clever but sometimes his brains go to his head." - Arthur R. M. Lower

Having now looked it up in a student dictionary (out of random - and perhaps rampant - curiosity), I have discovered that the plural of 'thesaurus' can be either 'thesauri' or 'thesauruses'.... Live and learn, eh? (I prefer 'thesauri' but maybe that's just me.) And back on topic.... "I love a good fight thirst fing in the morning." *facepalm* My fingers ran away with me....

Changed mine finally. From Gir (Invader Zim) to a nice little reference to Kakashi and the Icha Icha series in Naruto. Not that I've written anything in that fandom as of yet, but I'm hoping the amusement (and innate honesty of the image) will spur me to write even more.

Ehh, I get obsessed sometimes, too, with my works...usually in that I'll, for example, hop in the shower--and suddenly I'll get an image in my head of what the characters I've been writing about want to do. (This is how 12 started for me: Reno decided to mangle popular Christmas songs, because I'd been trying to remember lyrics in between writing scenes. And then Zack chose to parody 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and suddenly my head was a madhouse.) But as you say, it's not necessarily a good thing. That's a pretty crappy thing for your dad to do. And his timing is horrible, from what you've mentioned is happening. *shakes head* I'm sorry your dad is so...inconsiderate? Disrespectful? Whatever word you want to use to describe him. E-mail spam is infuriating, I agree. That's why I switched to Gmail. I get no spam in my inbox unless I sign up for something that spams people.

"Two People Fell In Love" in my pants. One of my favorite Brad Paisley songs.

I like "rampant" today.... Not sure why, but that's the word I'm leaning toward....

Yes, it has...but it's still on writing, so it's not entirely off track. Just a little askew, perhaps.

I don't think anyone writes well when they first start out. It's a matter of practice. That's part of why I read a lot, so I know what I think is a good story and why and can make my own have similar quality. I've never really been a fan of Cloud, but yes, Seph is awesome. I'm also quite a fan of Vincent--though I usually avoid reading him with Cid. Nothing against Cid, but in the original game he was all but married to Shera, just going by the way he acted, y'know? And he doesn't strike me as someone who'd sleep around on his spouse. Nor does Vincent strike me as someone who'd be willing to go along with it. *sigh*

Manga is my choice, too. The Winter War was the last part of the arcs with Aizen. And if you'd like to start reading my excessive humor (I mean, stories), I'd be honored. I can also recommend some, if you'd like. I'm nowhere near caught up on Naruto right now. I keep trying to get back into it but my interest gets shot. *sigh* So I read, and I'm trying to dabble in writing it, but it's going to be horribly AU. Harry Potter - I read in but haven't written, yet, though I've told a wonderful writer on AO3 that when she finishes her Harry Potter/Naruto crossover I will gladly adopt it in Naruto-verse, since she's dabbling in HP-verse. (At least, I assume her.... Haven't checked gender yet. *cough*) The story, I think, is a wonderful blend of the two but is also AU in its own right, and her attention to the little details of societies and interaction is superb. It's Minato and Kakashi yaoi. I also have a friend on FFnet who writes a really neat AU called Silver and the Sun, and she hasn't put it up anywhere else yet (it also hasn't gotten anywhere near explicit yet except in violence, maybe). Black Butler is fun but I haven't found sufficient inspiration to write my own works for it yet. So I read. Gravitation I haven't even touched yet, though I've thought about it. FFVII is a blast. I need to finish posting the works of those that I have written. One of them is turning into a threesome--and it spawned another threesome that will have a series of side one-shots that go along with the main fic. I've been a big fan of FFVII for a long time (put it this way, I picked the game as a birthday present one year because the case looked interesting, and suddenly the whole family was playing it, and there were five of us then). I like to read, still, and I'm trying to finish up three stories in that fandom. Sparked (Vincent and Tseng); 12 (I will not type the full name if I can help it. This spawned from a mention in Soaked of a Christmas tradition Reno started.... It's also turned into a threesome....); and Seeing Red (Vincent and Reno, for my friend Fei who is with me staunchly through it all and is always up to playing sounding board and checking that my scenes aren't missing characters/details).

Yes, I did catch the rant. It was just one of the reasons you hadn't pointed out there. *blush* My randomness can be...insane. *sigh* And when I'm feeling uninspired, I tend to ask friends for help. Fei gives me requirements that I try to include (and am not always successful because I do what the story needs as opposed to what I want, even though it makes things more difficult for me...). Raymy gave me a plausible scenario to work with where I'm stuck on my Bleach story CK, which started out as a semi-serious threesome-to-be, and...the second chapter devolved into betting. I was...slightly horrified and couldn't stop laughing. And it wasn't Shinji who started the betting in my head, contrary to what the story says. No, it was Kisuke, because Urahara Kisuke has this...mischievous streak...and I can only deny him when mischievous Shunsui gets to me first. *sigh* I think I'm hopeless; Shunsui's really good at saying, "Hey, wouldn't this be fun...?" with a wink and then passing me the sake bottle, and suddenly I find my muse intoxicated - not me, my muse - and I've got plot to merge into my main story line. Well, you may want to finish at least the Winter War before you read most of my fics, because I do give spoilers through that in some stories and I forget which ones. The drabbles...well, there are a few spoilers there, to be sure. And some completely AU. And a lot of crack-ish humor. (I implied so much kinkiness in drabble #22, for example.... And sent everyone off laughing and loving it, and the friend I specifically wrote it for told me it made her day because it had Byakuya in it. ) Urahara's hilarious. Especially when he irritates Ichigo. Honestly, I like writing him because he has a really diverse range of emotions that are shown. Shunsui's about the same, but he's...calmer about it. Probably age and experience in combination having an effect on him, like he knows how to distance himself from his emotions, and when he's resolved to fight he always seems somewhat sad, to me. Not a pacifist (obviously) but someone who would rather not fight if he can avoid it...though he'd be the last one of the Gotei you'd want after you, because he wouldn't take things personally--you'd just die because he outplanned you, and probably had a lot more power and ability, too. Maybe the truth of it is that I have a preference for the canny ones, the ones who can outwit their enemies but also have an air of sadness to them, and determination.... *nods* I do, so that must be at least one reason I like them so much. It would be nice, wouldn't it? I have a problem with people who think everything is always one way anyway, regardless of what the subject is, but when it comes to sex...no. But I'm glad I can cheer you up.

Yes, a beta is probably a good idea. If not more than one. Hahaha, yes, details usually are good to have.... Well, I'm glad you'll keep writing. Certainly I'll enjoy it. And I'll check out this story of yours, but I'll wait until you're done adding descriptions so I don't make unnecessary comments. As long as you use different plots, I see no problem with keeping to the same genre. (*facepalm* I told you already that I can't not write humor; it just doesn't work. So what do I do - or rather, what did I do - but start writing a Bleach fan fic, HC, where Urahara's depressed because Yoruichi just died. Yeah, that's...not flowing easily from my head into my fingers. *sigh* Guess I should've stayed away from the whole depression thing, but in all the yaoi fics I've read with Urahara, he's never the one who needs help first, if at all. And I...wanted to see that. Why I had to write it myself instead of suggesting it to someone else.... Shall I say that I'm a sucker for mischievous characters, especially the sly ones? Kyoraku said he wanted to comfort "Kis-kun"...and then ruined the moment by adding that, if "Kis-kun" wanted, he could be comforted in other ways, too. "Kis-kun" wanted to take Benihime to his head - which urge his blood-thirsty blade of course seconded - and I broke down giggling. Maybe that's why I started it, because they made me laugh. *grumps* Humor. Every time, the humor.) If you ever want to throw in humor but don't know how, you're always welcome to ask me. I can't ever seem to stop it. It leaks in around the edges. (Tried to write a FFVII fan fic for a friend, called it Soaked. It spun out into a few disasters and then, at the end when the guys had gotten together like my friend had wanted, I was going to finish it with something merely mentioning the deviant yet humorous actions of Reno - probably at work the next day or something. Instead, he showed up for dinner while the two newly together guys slept off their exertion, and inspired a line that still makes two of my friends crack up. "Reno: saving men's dignity, one piece of pizza at a time." As it was said in an announcer-type voice, it made us laugh all the harder, and...*shakes head* We none of us can look at pizza the same since. Not mentally scarring - no, it was perverted and therefore not something most people want to explain to their family when dinner's on the table. But it was also Reno and his warped humor and the way the situation turned out. *smiles* Quite fun, in a rather demented way. -- In hindsight, most of my stories wind up odd but amusing. No joke; I've got a Bleach drabble on FFnet with Shinji and Starrk, two characters I've never seen paired together because...I don't know why...but I was in a writing mood and really, really tired, and my mind seizes on this crack drabble notion even though I don't do drugs and I wasn't drinking, and the next thing I know, I've written the moment when their relationship turns from acquaintances/friends to something more...at least on one side. The horrible thing is that every review I've had on it there includes amusement to usually large degrees AND says something about, "Wow, you made them work! I want to read more of them now!" And I...I mean, what the hell? I write...I write a crack drabble and it's hilarious and in character?! *facepalm* I take deep breaths and wonder what's wrong with me when I think on that, I really do. It's not that I don't enjoy my humorous moments, it's more that I...am so perfectionist about having everyone in character that even when I make things amusing, it works. So I suppose you could say that I have your problem in reverse. You can't write humor in intentionally, and I can't leave it out, even intentionally. *makes face* Well, at least I can enjoy reading the other genres....) As to the top/bottom, Dom/sub thing...well, yes. People are unfortunately pig-headed about that and perhaps always will be. (I hope not.) But I'm with you on that, though I will say that sometimes, for the sub, it's about giving up that constant control they keep in the rest of their lives, letting someone else do as they will and just following.

I'm very sorry to read this, and sorrier still that people have been putting you down and degrading your ability. I, personally, think it has potential. Do you still need work in some areas? Yes. Everyone does. And professional writers tend to have editors who are paid to fine-tune their grammar, spelling and punctuation, so I've never seen the sense in being rude about that issue--to anyone. I will also note that I have not read all of your works, but I can say this for sure: you do have a sense of humor. It's sly, it can be rather dry at times, and a portion of it is situational irony--but it's humor and it's there, regardless of what these other people have been telling you. (I should know; I am very picky about humor fitting the characters and situations, and nothing I write has no humor. This has to do with one of my two philosophies on life, which is, "If you can't laugh, you aren't living." Perhaps I take it overboard at times, but in my case usually helps others cheer up, even if I'm morbid.) If they don't see humor in your stories, that's not your shortcoming, it's theirs. Maybe they just haven't suffered enough to learn to laugh when they have the chance, but I have, and I think you have as well. The people who think your works are bad should, in my opinion, be lined up and shot. (Of course, I think a lot of people should be lined up and shot. A number of government officials, for example. Still haven't done anything about it, but I wouldn't be upset if someone else did.) There is no such thing as a bad story, the same as there is no such thing as bad art. The only differences are the practice done and the feelings associated with it. One of my grandfathers is a professional artist/muralist, and he will openly tell people that when he started out, his artwork often ended up in the trash. He practiced and practiced, and now he gets a lot of people who really enjoy his work. I'll PM you the website if you'd like, though it doesn't have photos of everything he's done even in recent years on it. I probably wouldn't make a great beta right now, but if you'd like I am more than willing to be your sounding board for ideas, particularly for this original story you mentioned. (Haven't read it, but you do write well from what I've read, and besides, I enjoy being a sounding board. It lets me help others and be creative at the same time, which is a fun combination.)

For the two new reviews I've had since posting chapter two: kissedbymidnight: No, Caimus hasn't abused his dominance yet. But...that being the case...don't you think Jaden's the perfect Were to be his teacher/guardian? Jaden's a pro at disobeying those who give him orders. And Caimus, so far, is young enough that he's only trying to please his elders, though I'm intending to cover the incident where he uses his dominance without good reason (probably in the next chapter). Jaden had to mature young, and I think that shows, but yes - if you could win his loyalty, it would be yours forever. Thank you for saying so, and I'm glad you're liking it! There will be romance, no worries - though maybe also some adolescent fumbling, if I can work it in right. (Haven't written adolescent fumbling yet, so I'll have to try and see how it fits - or doesn't - into the story.) I don't think the prince will always know that he's gay, I'm leaning towards the it will dawn on him when he hits puberty scenario. Should be fun. As to mating, I've already decided who he's going to pick...and it will cause problems, of course...but I don't want to spoil it, so I'll say no more. If I take too long with the next chapter (in your opinion), feel free to PM and pester me. (It works. Had a friend who used to smack me with pop bottles and give me puppy eyes, and that worked, too, but I haven't seen her in years.) SunaoTsuji: Thank you for the review and support! I always love it when readers find and enjoy my works, and your words of thanks at the end are rare. (I've given them to writers, too, and I've found that it helps, though I don't always remember to throw them in. But it's really nice, as an author, to find them in a review. So thank you.) If you feel I'm taking too long updating - which, unfortunately, has and still does happen - then, please, pester me with PMs or something. Remind me to get my butt in gear. (I can't remember who said the quote, but, as the saying goes, "Remember: a kick in the ass is still a step forward.")

Well thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

This conversation happened last month, but I figured I should share it with the public (read: fellow pervs) here for laughs. I've already shared it with Raymy, who, I am very glad to say, has a wonderful sense of humor and pervertedness! I meant to share this before now, but what with company and scattered inspiration and life in general, I've either been highly distracted or not on a computer. Still, I hope this makes everyone laugh. The text below was typed when I was still intoxicated...but I'd have probably phrased it the same way regardless, since the only thing drinking changes about my sense of humor is how much I laugh out loud.

My immediate thought was that this person had set him-/herself on fire. Human torch. *gags* What a stench that would leave. Yeah, when I read it I had exactly the same thought. It always amazes me how so many people are so terrible with grammar. And if you're not sure that the word is spelled right, you should check, right? For that matter, if you know what you mean but not how to spell the word, why not try a thesaurus? That's sometimes even more helpful than a dictionary, although I've noticed that most people avoid dictionaries less. (Had to phrase it that way; I couldn't think of how to spell the plural of 'thesaurus' and didn't want to look it up.)

"I'll Be" in my pants. Well, duh. Great title, Reba.