Satai Delenn

Thank you for posting a notice here. I don't have (nor want) a Facebook account, so I wouldn't have known what was going on, otherwise. I'm glad you got everything back up and running. Sorry you ran into trouble trying to get everything back up.

I can understand that, but kind of like, "It takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch," what you're essentially doing by no longer reviewing, is punishing those of us who would like to know if there are problems, or merely if you just like the story in general, or a particalar item in said story, and so, that isn't really fair. I know I'd given up updating my story here for a while, because practically no one out of the 1,000+ hits in the past year could bother to put up ANYTHING to let me know what they thought of my story. I mean, for all I know, those 1,000+ people are/were reading the first chapter and thinking, "Boy, this writer SUCKS, and this story SUCKS, I'm not reading any further!" So, why should I then waste my time updating, or even continuing to write this story any further? Yes, writing for yourself is all well and good, and if you can do that on a permanent basis, great, I'm thrilled for you, but honestly, I do like to know what people think! I guess that's an insecurity of mine. At any rate, after a year of not updating, someone FINALLY left me a review, and they wanted more, and I thought, "Wow, OK, SOMEONE actually likes it, so OK, I'll put up another chapter." So I did, and have I heard anything after getting another hundred or so hits since the update? Nope. Yet, there are other authors who have the same amount of chapters or less, and have three times the hits I do, AND have ten or more times the amount of reviews I do. So, that, once again has me thinking, "Well, I guess I was right the first time, and not many people are liking my story. Good thing I haven't wasted any more time on it, and I've moved on to writing my original stories that I hope to have published one day." Of course, if no one seems to like my fanfiction, it does leave me wondering if I'll ever have anyone interested enough to want to publish my novels, in spite of the fact that I've been published already, twice in a literary journal. I'm just the type of person that depends on feedback, both positive and negative, and if I receive nothing, that leaves me assuming the negative, and that my writing sucks, so why bother? Not all of us are strong enough to stand by our writing, and write no matter what people think. I wish I could, but that's just not me.

I was looking in my account/profile for a way to change the skin to something else or a different color or something, as the red is very harsh on my eyes. Am I missing something? I couldn't find an option for choosing skins, and I miss the old skin that was here a couple of months ago. It was much more soothing on the eyes.

I had a story I had posted, and there were three or four chapters up, and even FINALLY had a reviewer. It is now GONE! What happened to it?! Please! I had so much trouble getting it posted in the first place, and now it's GONE! WHY?! I am of age (well over 21!), but if you need proof, I will provide it. Why was my story taken down?! I had the appropriate disclaimer, and proper warnings, so I don't understand why it was removed! Edited to add: OK, I am DEEPLY confused. When I clicked the tab at the top of this forum to go to AFF.net, and I clicked to edit my story, it said I had none on the forum. Yet, when I went to my review thread here on the forum, and clicked the link I provided in the thread, it took me right to my story, and when I clicked on "Author's Panel" it shows I have 1 story, with 2 reviews. So, are there two different Adultfanfiction.nets?

I didn't realize that either. Thank you, Demon. Now, just one question. How do I find the box and uncheck it?

I'm sorry if this isn't the right area, but this is where your link took me when I clicked on it. Your newsletter said something about a major crash, but this thread isn't saying anything about it. Please, what crash, and what stories were affected? I ask because I have a story (WIP) posted on the AFF HP section, and I want to know if it was affected. Thank you!

Hmm.... OK, well, thank you, Demon, Yuki, and Rainy. I guess I just tend to over-think things, and worry. Especially when I fail to get feedback on my stories. It makes me wonder what I've/if I've done something wrong. I do try to have my characters grow. I just don't always know if I do it right.

I just want to thank many of you. I never considered my OFC(s) to be a Mary Sue. I don't try to make her a "fake me" at all. I don't know if I succeed in that or not. However, many of you frightened me into revising my OFC in one of my fanfics because I was worried that she would at some point seem a bit too pathetic, and therefore stop people from relating to her or sympathizing with her. Therefore, I kept in mind (or tried to) what many of you have said, and rewrote/added a scene into my story to show that my OFC is beginning to grow and starting to relate to other people (on a platonic [sp?] level), aside from the two men interested in her romantically. So again, thank you all for opening my eyes to a possible trap I was accidentally setting myself up for in regard to my OFC(s).

I totally get how you all feel. I'm writing a HP fanfic right now, and have three chapters posted so far. I have fairly decent views, I think, but only one person has reviewed. I'm grateful to him/her (I have no idea if the person is male or female), but I truly wish that others would be kind enough to review. I just don't understand why people can't/won't review. So, I don't think it has anything to do with how much or how little the story is being viewed, because as I said, mine's an HP fanfic. The only thing I can figure is that it's because I chose to have an OFC as one of the main characters. I know a lot of people don't like OCs because they can be mary sue's/larry stu's, but I honestly don't think my character is a mary sue. I've tried hard to not have her be one. I'm just at the point where I'm ready to give up, and just work on my original work. I should be putting more effort into that anyway, since I want to have it published one day. Not to be rude to readers here, but maybe the general public will appreciate what readers here don't seem to. *sigh*

First, if this is not the correct place (though it does say this section is for reviews) to post this, then please (without attacking me) feel free to direct me to the proper place (a link to the right area would be greatly appreciated, as I've looked over the entire forum site and have been unable to find anywhere else this thread would belong). Second, this thread is for people to ask any questions they might have about anything in my story, as well as my replies to people's reviews. Now, I would like to thank most graciously, bwilson for his/her kind reviews of my story. I do my best to write Severus in an accurate, but human manner, and I am glad that this shows in my story. I'm also very glad that you like Mari. I am trying my best to create a character that is not a Mary, nor anti-stu. I hope that I am succeeding in this. I realize that most people don't like OCs but I find that I prefer writing them because it allows me to practice my writing in my style, while still working within a genre that I feel comfortable with. The stronger my writing grows, the more I hope to be able to take what I've learned and create original stories. I'm hoping that as I continue writing Jack of Spades, Mari continues to be a sympathetic character. There may be occasions, however, when she may seem a little trying, especially because I seem to have her crying a lot, and I am trying to curb myself from continuing to write her in that manner, though it may be a while before that happens. She has, after all, had a lot of things happen to her, and there are still more things yet to come before she can truly begin to heal from the things she's gone through. Alright, now, to anyone else who has been reading, but not reviewing. I thank you for taking time out of your day to read my story. I do hope that you are enjoying it. Also, if you are a fan of Hermione, then I must warn you that she is not portrayed in the best light in this story, but then, Mari will have her moments where she is not so kind either. I have nothing against the Hermione character, but in this particular story, it suited me to have Hermione be a bit naive, and rather defensive at times. I realize that Hermione has not shown up yet, but she will soon, and I felt the need to warn die hard Hermione fans, just in case. For anyone else who may have read this thread, and is wondering what the hell I'm talking about, lol, you can find my story here: http://hp.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600094255 if it so interests you. I look forward to answering people's questions, and answering any reviews I receive.

I think that sometimes people do get caught up in the "ideals" that certain societies unrealistically emphasize. It's shoved down people's throats through T.V., radio, magazines, in some books, and sometimes (OK, oftentimes) in school as well. People become desensitized to the fact that models and many actors, and "society's ideals" are shown as either anorexic women that are basically walking skeletons, or the "perfect Barbie woman" that is at LEAST 5' 7" and has voluptous curves. I know that even though I am as far from "voluptuous curves" as I can get, I still tend to write my OFCs that have a body that I can never hope to have. And if I want to have someone with a "normal" body type, it does take great conscious effort for me to write the character that way because it's been drilled into my head what a woman is supposed to look like according to society. It's very rare that a so-called "real" woman who is considered "average" is shown as someone to look up to. No, it's not right, but unfortunately until societies stop expecting women to be unrealistically "beautiful," that is probably how female characters will continue to be portrayed. It's also quite possible that because of the things I listed above, many writers may think that is what their readers want in the author's female characters. Maybe?

OK, I've got a question. Is it a bad thing if your OFC is a mix of maybe two of the types listed above? I mean, I guess I'm trying to figure out if it's a bad thing if I don't always write "within the rules" that people seem to like to put up for writing. I seem to somehow manage to break some of the rules.

Lol, well, I don't know why, but The Golden Girls doesn't affect me in any real way. Maybe because I grew up watching that show, and I thought Blanche was a great role model for older people and even myself that one day I could still be like that. And yet, at the same time, I'm much older now, and though I'm physically attracted to much older men (men my age or even up to ten years older than me does NOTHING for me), the idea of two people in their 80s seems to squick me. I can't explain why. Someone in their 70s or below doesn't phase me at all, but someone in their 80s has me screwing up my face and thinking, "ewww...." Even funnier is the fact that my parents are not near their 80s yet, but the thought of them having sex or even being intimate in ANY way just makes me ill. OMFG! This just absolutely cracked me up! I do think a lot of people in their teens and twenties think that anything above 26 is OLD. Hell, I'm in my mid thirties and I think I'm old sometimes. I distinctly remember my 24th birthday rolling around. I was depressed as all hell. Someone at work asked me what was wrong. I replied, "Well, today is my birthday." She wished me a happy birthday, but I just shook my head. She asked me what was wrong with it being my birthday. I said, "Well, I just turned 24. Which means that next year I'll be 25... A whole quarter of a century old, and five years after that, I'll be 30, and I'll be REALLY OLD!" This didn't go over very well with anyone in the office, lol. They were almost all 30 and up, lol.

Yes. I just did this with my story. I don't know that it suits the story any better, but I was hoping it would garner more interest in the story. I thought that maybe people weren't viewing or even reviewing because they dislike the summary of the story vs. the story itself. Silly, I know, but I'm just trying to figure out why people aren't reviewing. Hence why I thought rewriting the summary might help. And yes, the more I think about it, I think it was a good thing to do, even if it doesn't garner any reviews. I also just don't want people thinking it's a Snapefic. Yes, he's a major character in my story, but it's really my OFC's story even though I will focus occasionally on other characters if the scene(s) require it.

Wow, well, now I was born in '74, and over half the items on your list I remember easily being around in my early days. I remember Walkman's well, and I watched Schoolhouse Rock obsessively, and yes, I remember the portable phones (for me it was the '80s and I was at camp when I saw my first one. The owner's daughter helped her run the camp and she had a giant bag that she kept the giant phone (complete with a long antenna) in it, along with her wallet, etc. It was hilarious when it rang and she pulled out this giant phone to talk on. I also remember APple Computers (though for my family we were already IBM preferers), Atari, and Commodore 64s. Though my mother wouldn't allow me either Atari or Commodore 64. Instead she got me an "educational" game player... The Texas Instruments game station. As much as I admit that I would have prefered Atari or Commodore 64, there are games from that TI system that I miss to this day, lol. Beta was still being used on occasion, but was quickly being overrun by VHS (of which, I still have three VCRs, and also a DVD/VCR player/recorder). I remember well the days when MTV was actually a music station. The Cola Wars were going strong (my mother and I were Pepsi converters according to the taste test, but my dad was a staunch Coke drinker). I sorely miss the days when TV/Cable was more program than commercials (17 minutes for a "half hour" program, and 42 minutes for an hour's program. Yep, I counted the commercial minutes and subtracted the hour once, lol. Yep, I'm a nerd). So, I find it very funny that you consider me a "younger" writer, when I look at those born in the 80s and beyond, and to me, THOSE people are the "younger" writer, and I tend to lump myself within your age group/generation even though I was born 9 years after 1965. *shrugs* Oh, and before I forget, for something else I remember: 3-2-1 Contact! and The Bloodhound Gang, and I also remember everyone getting up in arms about "New Coke," and Coca Cola having to revert to the "Coke Classic" formula after that fiasco, lol.