Cuzosu

"The House Rules" Christian Kane

I have been likened to a wolf (which was fine by me) and a hyena (which is more of a scavenger and not so appealing, but my friends meant it as a comment on my constant cackling and laughter). *shrugs* My mother has the protective instincts of a mama bear with cubs, but call her that to her face and half the time she'll take it as a comment on her weight.

I've been a tad wary of trying that, myself, putting in bits from an author I like. Now that you've tried it, I had to. For the record, I used Martha Wells' short story The Houses of the Dead and the site said "You write like Neil Gaiman."

*laughs* Put in two old poems of mine; the first (subject: death) is likened to Shakespeare...the second (subject: multiple personalities) lands me, once again, with James Joyce. Of course, I tried with my latest chapter of TWKH and got Stephanie Meyer, which was kind of offensive to me (long story, lots of ranting every time I try to explain it), so I took the chapter and used it scene by scene, and only one scene comes up with Meyer's name. The others have H. P. Lovecraft, Rudyard Kipling, Gertrude Stein, Chuck Palahniuk, and then Kipling two more times in a row! Meyer gets a tiny scene in comparison to some of the others, too. So I think that, especially for the longer pieces, it's listing the more famous authors, and, if there is one that's both famous and still alive, it looks like the site may list those over some other authors. 'cause, seriously, two of the scenes that got the Kipling comparison were much bigger than the other tiny scenes toward the beginning of the chapter, and yet Meyer is picked instead of Kipling, who gets three scenes out of seven? *shakes head* Apart from the Meyer comparison, however, it's still fun to go back and do this from time to time, just to see how others might think my writing has changed. An unposted Tokyo Majin: Gakuen Kenpucho fic got me J. D. Salinger. A might-be-in-the-works Dresden Files pseudo-start of a fic got me J. K. Rowling. A new original in the works got me Dan Brown.

anxiouslyawaitingupdate: You're welcome! I've been working on TWKH as much as I can, so getting another chapter up the day before my own birthday was fun for me, too. And you're not the only one who loves the logic behind Jaden's name. A certain of my pre-readers informed me she was glued to her computer screen when I bounced that chapter her way, and then the dimples bit had her cracking up, so, y'know, I'm rather proud of those moments. *shrugs, grins* It's so nice to have fun with this, and all the reviews are priceless. *bows* I can't thank you enough. Oh, okay, I suppose I can work on more.... *grin* These guys are so fun to write. I look for excuses to write more, I really do, and your request is a good one! Yes, Caimus is adorable, isn't he? I just want to hug and snuggle with him, but I'm not furry enough, I guess; he keeps going back to the group piles in the Den. As to why Caimus didn't try to interfere--remember, Jaden saw this coming. He knew to prepare for it. Maw-maw may confront Russ and ask him about it, though, in the next chapter. Thank you again for following TWKH and even more for reviewing!

Pen Name: Cuzosu Story Link: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600105875&chapter=6 Prompt Used: phrase prompt, "And the rains came" Type of Fic: Chapter of ongoing story Fandom: Original, part of my TWKH main story Pairing: N/A Warnings: Violence and blood, swearing.

To me, it does. I come from a blend of families that tend toward tough love. We're more likely to fall about in laughter or to have a knock-down, drag-out fight than we are to have a fluffy moment. Things start getting fluffy, my grandmother starts to cry, and whether good tears or bad, every family member who has contact with her jumps to do her bidding when she cries. We panic, baffled and at a loss, I admit. The closest the rest of my family comes to fluff is movie/game night, when things get ridiculous, or in the mountains when we just sit and enjoy the company and the scenery and, above all, the simplicity. Because of this, I am not sure I understand the traditional meaning of "fluff" in the fan world, but I guess when the family's fluffiest moments tend to be a pat on the head and the words, "Good job," it may be a lost cause.

Being female myself (though I'll admit that my username doesn't necessarily convey that), I will say that I agree with the points BW, DG and PW noted. I can and do read rape; that tag is not going to turn me away from a good story. This doesn't mean that I like it, but I'm not utterly revolted by stories that didn't happen to real people. For actual people, I tend to muster more empathy; my own mother has been raped and traumatized by it, so I learned a number of methods to help with what I could. Personally, what I find most off-setting is fluff. Yes, that's right: fluff. I have never once in my life had a moment that could qualify as fluff, and I have an aversion to reading it. I don't mind angst as long as it's not overdone, supernatural creatures are usually successful lure on me, and a good action/adventure/fantasy gets me every time. SciFi is great, steampunk is awesome if done right, and romance is okay. Comedy is perfect if the author can use it right; I don't care if the story is dark or light or tense with action/drama. But sheer drama? If I want drama, I will go see my family before I read it or watch it on television. And dark stories tend to get looked at two out of three times. I'm not into F/F; just not my thing. I like males too much. Sometimes I read het, but I don't generally go out of my way to look for it. Slash is much more to my tastes. I agree, too--tags are as much ads as they are warning labels. And part of the issue with readers/reviewers is probably that most of the people who come here appear to be looking either in specific fandoms or for PWPs. Frankly, I'm not much into original PWP stories; I want time to get to know the character. In fandoms, I don't have to, so PWP is fine there. Still not my favorite, but acceptable.

I try to be at least halfway through the second chapter, but sometimes I only have the first chapter, or sometimes I have two full chapters and the start of a third.

"Wrinkles" Diamond Rio

I use both methods, notebooks and computer. My ideas sometimes end up all over the place. For outlining, I tend to use notebooks; it's a little easier to circle and scribble and I can always transcribe it onto a Word document later. For story ideas which are still gathering plot in my head, pen and paper is always best. I can take it around with me and add pieces as they come. Computers can run out of battery life, have no available outlets, or--well, frankly, they break down faster if you move them around a lot. With a notebook and pen, there are only three worries: running out of ink, losing pages, or ideas flowing too fast to jot them down. Chapter-wise, it mostly depends on where I am. If I'm at home, I'm probably using the computer. If I'm not, I've probably got a notebook in my hands and will transcribe at some later point. Sometimes I'll go up in the woods, find a quiet spot while my man goes fishing and just write. No computer, no nosy relatives or neighbors, and maybe even no music, just me and the wildlife and the wind in the trees. And, off in the distance, my man. It's quite calming.

Guilty. But it's not like I only swear when loss is involved. I've got a foul mouth sometimes, and my family certainly hasn't made me want to give it up. *rolls eyes* Even my grandma swears. Ever read a fanfiction so good that you mistook it for canon in an argument with another fan?

Guilty as well. Though some of the anime I like are impossible to watch in one night; Yu Yu Hakusho, for example, is 112 episodes and four seasons of awesome. Ever known anyone who, upon getting drunk, proceeds to get semi-hyper and annoy you into insisting they lay down to sleep, only to butt heads over when/if you are going to join them? My man does that. ("I can't sleep. Come cuddle with me." *pouty face*)

"For Some Ol' Redneck Reason" Justin Moore feat. Charlie Daniels CD: Off the Beaten Path

"Right Where It Belongs" in my pants. Nicely done, NIN.

"Curiosity Kills" Trapt

"Wrapped Around" in my pants.... How am I supposed to take that?

Guilty. Once with a pencil I'd searched the room to find, and then lost again by the time I got back to where I was intending to use it. Ever had nachos with blue corn tortilla chips and colby jack cheese? It was my favorite, growing up, and I've managed to get my man hooked on it, too; it has more flavor and besides, we make no less than a full plate each time.

I have an OTP, to do with my original series, TWKH.... But I can't say who is involved because that would spoil the surprise for my readers. Apart from that...pick a fandom I know and I can name the ones I like best. I don't tend to favor any general fandom over another, so I can't say I really have a top favorite OTP. (Of course, this is me, who only has a favorite song because it offended someone who was getting on my last nerve over said song....)

My mother got me into Stephen King.... She has, last I was aware, 1-5 of his Dark Tower series. We borrowed 6 from a library and I bought 7 in hardback. Wonderful series. I love his choice of ending, versus the fan one. It's not happy, but it's...very much par for the main character's luck in the series. Saying anything further would give spoilers to people who may not want them, so I'll just note that I still love the Dark Tower series. Um.... There are a number of other books of his that my mom has, but I think the one that stands out in my mind the most, apart from the Dark Tower series, is Rose Madder. I believe there is a movie that's supposedly based off the book (Rose Red? It was advertised on SciFi at one point....), but I was so disappointed by the mini-preview and the commercials that I never bothered to watch it. I think it would be hard to do justice to Rose Madder, anyway--unless, perhaps, Tim Burton was in charge of making the movie. Dreamcatcher was...different, but it left me kind of ambivalent, as opposed to my mother's response of, "What the hell was he thinking?"