Shadowknight12

pittwitch: Elves are awesome! And yes, indeed! Oh, pffft, don't even worry about it! I know exactly what it is to review while having to do a handful of other things! I just pointed it out to save a little face! And it was really great feedback, I honestly feel very grateful for it! I will definitely try to work on the issues you mentioned, especially since in dialogue-heavy pieces like this one, they become glaringly obvious. Heh, once again, just doing it to save what little face I can. "I swear there's an evergreen branch in there!"

Apollo: Mwahahah, yes. Sixteen times Jeddek has arduously climbed a peak to find... nothing. It's hardly a wonder he went straight for the booze when he was finally in the encampment! Heh, yeah, it was a bit tricky to find the connection to Evergreen, lol. Next prompt will be easier, since I'm pre-emptively planning for it. And heh, in the next instalment, we'll actually see why poor Jeddek has been so patient.

Apollo: Indeed! On both counts! It's hard to come off as both affably evil and amusing, but I'm glad I somehow made it work.

Fairy Slayer: Oh, man, now that is some seriously amazing concrit! I can't really thank you enough for taking the time to do all that! Heh, you caught me, I used the evergreen thing twice, in the ending and in the branch Auran was twirling. I didn't really know how to work it into the story, so I just went with that. Heh, yeah, I wanted to use the same stylistic resource for both cold and warmth. Ah, good catch! Replaced "to keep" with "keeping." Not pedantic at all! Fixed the "usually cheerfulness" thing too. I do indeed use a very formulaic style when I write. I am definitely making mental notes to use all of these wonderful suggestions. Conjunctions, Inversions, Tightening, I'm going to try to use more of those. And yeah, trimming is particularly hard. I had a whole paragraph on the hangover thing he was drinking that I had to eliminate completely. Ah, well, such are the skills we learn with prompts! No, no, not at all, this is DEFINITELY the kind of technical detail I want! And if you want more, go ahead! I devour this sort of thing like Strawberry Shortcake devours... strawberry shortcakes? LOL, I don't even know. Anyway, glad to hear you liked it, I'm definitely having fun writing these two. Thanks again! Asexual Biped: Hahahah, the wyvern gets a line or two in the next prompt as well, I think. And hah, I'm glad Auran comes off as likeable instead of just plain annoying. Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

BronxWench: Heheh, that's great to hear! Jeddek is actually rapidly approaching the point where he won't take any more of the elf's silliness. Which, considering they're about to walk into the death-trap-filled prison of an Old God, is really just about to get pretty zany. I honestly can't wait for next week.

JayDee: Hah, you made me google Carry On. Interesting, reminds me of a dirty (dirtier?) Monty Python! You know, I always enjoy your reviews, because you point out a lot of the "backstage" stuff that's always so interesting to discuss. Imagine if one could get away with RPing a character like Auran! *snorts* BWAHAHAHAH! I see that and read "cocks these and" which just makes me laugh at the innuendo. Sometimes I think the recaptchas are sentient...

Pen Name: Shadow Knight. Story link: AFF Prompt - Evergreen. Review replies link: Review Replies For AFF Prompt - Evergreen. Type of fic: FlashFic. Rating: Adult. Fandom: World Of Warcraft. Pairing: N/A Warnings: AFFO, ChallengeFic, COMPLETE, D/A, NoSex, OC.

Being silly here simply because I can. 1. How about a brief introduction of yourself? I am but an errant knight from a bygone age. I craft nothing save tales, stories to stave off the boredom of the centuries. Made of shadows, I endure. Made of steel, I prevail. 2. Fabulous! And what got you into fanfiction to begin with? A necessity to improve my abilities as a storyteller. A myriad of tales spawned by an idle imagination. The madness of the eldritch gods beyond the stars. Magic. 3. I see, so what kind of fanfiction do you like to write? Fantasy, mostly. I choose fandoms that provide me the freedom to create my own characters, that lend me their universes for my own tales to unfold. 4. Do you tend to write the same pairings/characters? Or are you a fandom whore? I resent being compared to a common harlot! I write what the fickle, cruel muses command me to write. They are the ones behind this madness you call writing. They have their archetypes, I suppose, but I beseech them dearly to embrace originality whenever I can. 5. What is your more popular fanfic and why do you think people like it so? "Cleansing The Taint," likely due to its absurd amount of chapters. It cannot be its quality, of that I am most certainly sure. The day where it stops being my most popular work cannot come too soon. 6. Forget other people, what is the fanfic you've written you're most proud of? None as of this moment. Next question, you fiend. 7. Do you find writing easy? Hard? What are the most difficult aspects of writing you struggle with? It is as hard to me as juggling blades would be to a man with no limbs. I struggle with every single aspect of writing, much as if every word was a rampaging monster wrought from a world of evil and fire. 8. Write a few sentences of so of your favorite pairing or character. "She came to me borne in wings of darkness, like the majestic dawn of a rising world; a world where death-shadows roam the land and life is a fickle candle swallowed by the unending, ravenous tides of the dead. She came to me aloft by wings of madness, my friend, and cleansed my very soul with her truth. I am her servant now, the messenger of death, and nothing can still my words." -- Nobody in particular. 9. Are there any fanfiction trends/clichés you can't stand or are just sick of? Anything that is not thought out properly or founded firmly upon the laws of logic and reason. Anything that is designed to please the senses and is, itself, utterly bereft of essence. Give me not the sweet taste of the fading æther, but the eternal strength of solid steel. 10. Are you guilty of any of the fanfiction trends/clichés you now hate? Or any other ones? I try to avoid making the mistakes I despise in others, but I have oft scolded myself for my lack of foresight and forethought. I do try to keep myself constantly improving, however. 11. What was the first fandom you wrote for? Do you still like/participate in it? World of Warcraft. I do still participate in it, for it provides me with a convenient universe for my tales to grow. 12. Name your OTPs or most frequently written pairings/characters and explain what it is about them you love to write. I write original characters with overwhelming frequency. I have no favourites as of this moment. I will make a mental note to edit this once I have found a suitable answer. 13. What would you call your writing "style"? To put it bluntly, my style tries too hard. I aim to reach perfection with every fibre of my being, with every thought that crosses my mind. A futile, endless race, perhaps; but what is life if not an incessant struggle to avoid an inescapable fate? 14. Do you read other people's fanfic? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most? I do, and I aim to critique what I read to keep my instincts sharp. I also seek positive aspects so that I may learn from them and use that knowledge for my own improvement. I find myself reading that which is similar to what I write, for the reasons stated above. Fiend. 15. Name one thing you'd LOVE to write, but have been too afraid or shy to do. If I wish to write something, I do it. If I fail, I try again after I have acquired more experience and honed my skills. 16. Do you have trouble taking criticism? Or worse yet, do you have the dreaded bloated ego? I have an armour for a reason, even if the occasional comment finds a weak spot. I try my best not to let it affect me unduly, although I must confess it is an arduous task. My ego, on the other hand, is so minuscule it can actually pass through walls. 17. When you write, is there anything that helps? Music? Quiet room? Repairing toaster ovens? What is this "toaster oven" you speak of? Regardless, when I write, I often find myself listening to music to drown out any distracting noises. I do enjoy silence whenever I can find it, however. A veritable shame there is not a graveyard in leagues. The atmosphere of a desolated cemetery, with rows upon rows of smooth, quiet graves, wilting flowers and mournful statues is, in my humble opinion, ineffably peaceful. The more ancient the location, the more profound the effect. 18. What inspires you? This is by far the hardest question to answer in this curious questionnaire. The things that inspire me cannot be given a name. They are not easily classified, easily understood or easily explained. I am inspired by things that escape the banality of the mundane, that open my eyes to new worlds, new characters, new stories. It can be anything from a conversation with a friend to a stranger's face. It can be a song. It can be a word. A sight. A taste. It can be anything at all. The world is hiding stories everywhere, and sometimes the masquerade slips and we see a glimpse of them. From that moment on, it is our duty as writers to unravel the thread and see where our muses lead us. 19. Lastly, how would you sum up your fanfiction experiences and yourself as a writer? It has been a long, hard road with no end in sight. I've been writing since I was in kindergarten (I still have the stories to prove it, even if I'd rather not lay eyes upon them ever again) and even if I have sometimes taken breaks from the art, I have always returned to it. In a short while, it'll be twenty years I've been doing this. Twenty years, by the gods. And I still have so much to do. 20. Tag some friends, because they'll have you for it. Evil Wench (told you so), Dany (ditto), waddict (not holding my breath on this one), and... errrr... ROGUE. Simple! Replace 'fanfiction' with 'original writing' and 'fandom' with 'genre' and presto!

As I said in the shoutbox, that was pure gold. Some I've made myself: "I am a neutered side in all of this." "I like the way you simile." "Your eyes are like pools of crisis water." "What the hall is going on here?!" "You move with such grape..." These are very old, since I started getting so many of these I turned off the autocorrect option.

pittwitch: Heh, thank you! I guess the trimming wasn't as bad as I thought, descriptions-wise. Glad I got a shiver out of you!

Hah, well, I'll keep that in mind for the next prompt. Thank you!

Melrick and wanderingaddict: OH. Oh, I see. Someone tried to tell me this a while ago, but I just didn't get what the hell they were talking about. Now I finally understand. I couldn't let it lie, so I went back and fixed those things in the dialogue, lol. And kudos on the psychology thing, waddict, I had a good grasp on what Melrick was talking about, but that helped me cinch it. It might be really obvious to you guys, but I'm used to writing this the complete opposite way. Why, using quotes for dialogue (and not just for, you know, quoting) was one of those things that took me a while to get used to. Anyhow, I went with a comma on the 'replied glacially' thing, because it's describing how he said the words that precede it. Lol, doing this sort of thing helped me realise I need to add some variety to my dialogue. It's all uniformly written the exact same way! "Dialogue," character synonym-for-said adverb. Anyway, thank you both for the help! And hah, stories like this one are my way to get in touch with all the frosty, wintry things I love and can't have. I wished it snowed here. AT ALL. FairySlayer: ROFL, I wonder who that could be! I'm glad you picked up on the fact that Jeddek is, at least in some unconscious level, playing along. Yeah, the siblings/old-married-couple dynamics is precisely the feeling I wanted to evoke. You're definitely right about Auran wanting to keep Jed alive, and not only because he's infinitely amused by him. I can already see they're going to be a ton of fun to write. Odd couples usually are! Thanks! I know the opening scene brought me some relief in my sweltering, sun-drenched hemisphere. BronxWench: Hah, it's quite all right! I know you have a lot on your hands already, what with two stories to update and, you know, Real Life! Thanks for the offer, though!

Heheh, awww. Awesome, good to hear that! Gend has the potential to be a very interesting antagonist, that breaks away from the cliché and truly brings up the story. They are! They are like honey covered in sugar. That sweet. Which is good, because I really like sweet! I can't for the life of me write it, but I most certainly enjoy it. Oh yeah, the elven definitely comes off as intimate, especially since they tell each other the cutest things, LMAO. Definitely keep that up. And well, I hope they DO get a happy ending! I love those. (And Sand survives the NWN2 bastard ending so there's no excuse not to...) No problem, that's what I'm here for!

BronxWench: Thank you for the review! A goblin, a gnome and a barrel of explosives would be one hell of a kink. Good to hear the descriptions were effective, I had to trim a lot to make it fit into 1000 words. Heh, Auran likes a challenge. Why woo the guy the normal way, when he can make it hard AND succeed at the same time? Walking a fine line is what makes it fun for him! I had a lot of fun writing these two, so I think we'll definitely see more of these guys in the future. Especially since the new prompt is just a couple of days away! Asexual Biped: Heheheh, glad to hear that! Auran is insufferable. But in the good way. Thank you!

Pen Name: Shadow Knight. Story link: AFF Prompt - Snow. Review replies link: Reviews Replies for AFF Prompt - Snow. Type of fic: FlashFic. Rating: Adult Fandom: World Of Warcraft. Pairing: N/A. Warnings: AFFO, ChallengeFic, COMPLETE, NoSex, OC.

Well, it makes for good bit of trivia. Maybe even a few pick up lines. "Baby, I'm hung like an elf... from Faerûn." And if it doesn't work, you use their confusion to spike their drink. Win-win! Poor woman. I wouldn't want to be in her position, being forced to write a plot you hate because the higher ups say so. Oh, lovely, we have another Anita in our hands. HEAT UP THE FURNACES, WE HAVE SNARK FUEL. Ayergh, so much literature to snark at! *adds Drizzt to his reading list* From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%26D --> 2000 (D&D 3rd edition); 2003 (D&D v.3.5); 2008 (D&D 4th edition). Not as much as the skip between 2E and 3E (that would be from 1989 to 2000), but yeah, they're not THAT close. Especially when it's widely renown that each edition after 3E was made pretty much with one thing in mind: Appease the fanbase who cried the game was broken and unbalanced. To nobody's surprise, such cries only did abate when 4E came out, which had been designed with that specific purpose in mind from scratch. Whiners proceeded to find new things to whine about. Mainly, "They Changed It, Now It Sucks." But... eyebrows? I mean... eyebrows? I mean, sure, they flow with the whole "long ears, tall lanky frame" thing, but... weird much? Hm, you made me go googling for MtG elf art. A lot of them look fairly typical elves, but there are some that are albino pale and shave their heads. That's... disturbing. I surely hope you don't mean those. Though I'm glad you touched upon this topic, because I honestly hadn't thought of physical appearance or other visual stuff as a way to make elves different in original works. Definitely something to consider carefully. Hah, well, if it was up to me, I'd do a looooot more with the classes. There's one called Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil that is all about abjuration (my favourite school of magic), and one called Sublime Chord that gives bards access to 9th level spells (Who's the spoony bard now?). But I had to choose and so I went with these. Maybe for some other stories in the future! Sliiiiightly amused nobody mentioned a thing about the antagonist, lol. Especially the "Lawful Good and pretty nice guy" part. So anyway, are they seriously all 'good to go?' I must be doing something wrong here!

I have one thing to say before I tackle the rest: ROFLMAO at the dwarf idea. I seriously laughed at that. Poor dwarves, nobody likes them. Though at least they're not gnomes or goblins... Anyway, his idea that 3E was a moneymaker for 4E is so retarded I'm tempted to find this guy and bash his head against the nearest surface while I chant "Do. The. Research. Next. Time." over and over again. Heh. But actually, if you look a bit lower in that link you have in the convo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)#Elves_in_the_Forgotten_Realms) you see that it's specifically states the height difference. So no, that was always there. It was just kind of like this tiny little exception that went against everything else. Sort of like the Darkspear tribe in WoW. Imagine if they weren't a playable race or part of the Horde. Would you remember there was a tiny little tribe in Kalimdor that wasn't evil and cannibalistic? Oh and also, there are GOOD drow now, they're brown and pretty, for those who want their elves in coffee and chocolate flavours. Oh, and werewolf elves, too. Granted, I'd still write smut with any of those. Yeah, I have no shame. But seriously, it's a bit of obscure trivia that only crops up in like, two books. People probably forgot about that shit as the other settings gained prominence. Lawl, I don't know! Maybe it's because wherever I go, chaos follows? And that's amusing? Maybe we'll never know! HAH, it's okay, I fully agree with you. I like elves all over the spectrum. I'm on the fence with the weird-ass eyebrows. I don't know if they're exotic or supremely disturbing...Which book, the one where Eilistraiee dies? No, precisely because she dies, LOL. I've been very chaotic in my D&D novel reading. I haven't touched the Drizzt novels because I want to start from the beginning and go in order, not like the rest where I've been reading stuff without rhyme or reason (hey, I didn't know they were part of a series/trilogy/series of trilogies for a long time!).

Yeah, I have to admit, air genasi get all the cooler cosmetic traits. Levitate is pretty handy, I'll give you that. Breathless is pretty awesome, too. Well, drow ARE supposed to be short, even in Faerûn. It's the rest that are lithe and tall and sleeeender. ...yeah. Same here.

My guess? A good chunk of people simply missed that detail, since the elves from the OTHER settings (Greyhawk, Eberron, Spelljammer, Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, etc.) are pretty much universally like those in the Player's Handbook. And those who didn't, preferred to go with the flow instead of rocking the boat. Since it was, you know, a direct lifting from Tolkien's elves and not an original take on them. Well, 4th edition doesn't happen, officially, until Mystra bites the dust and the Spellplague hits. Swordmage is set in 4e, and you see sorcerers with wands (Oh, how I'd wish that was a clever euphemism!) and all that 4e stuff. Also, poor, poor Eilistraiee. She was just so cool. I mean, seriously, a goddess whose entire clergy dances naked while wielding swords? How the fuck do you kill someone THAT cool? But anyway! Apparently, I think they chose to go with the old 'shorter elves,' since in 4e all settings have the exact same cosmology, races, spells, etc. So subraces are just a colour/cultural difference. The only mechanical aspect I recall is a feat option. But yeah, the Sword Coast has been propped up as D&D's major selling point, with Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, etc. Just like Sigil became Planescape's emblem and Sharn became Eberron's. Heh, D&D has changed hands a lot in the past few decades. I've read some stories from past developers and it's clear that executive meddling played a big role in D&D's history. This is the typical sort of thing that a manager would have said "Okay, for your book, make the elves shorter, like in Greyhawk." "But Faerûn's elves are tall and thin..." "Bah, that's just trite and boring. We need innovation! We need VISION." "..."

Something hard and tall to climb? *snerk* We're on fire with the wood references today! Especially since they're both worshippers of very similar deities. The innuendo alone...! And hah, the "Overage" thread left me thinking it's a shame we don't see more sexy, sultry, confident middle-aged women around. That aren't, you know, villains or secondary characters. Oooh! What element? I like Water the best, though Air comes close. LOL, thank you! But really, what were they expecting, naming elven subraces the same way as they order coinage? We ARE going to draw the necessary implications, folks! (I wish they would have gone with star elves = platinum elves, instead of mithral, since that way we could have called them "the priciest whores in Faerûn!") ROFL! I can already imagine the "expert woodworkers" jokes, too... *nods* I agree. They wanted to make the games, art and the books more concordant with D&D as a whole (perhaps as a selling point?), and there's probably more of those tiny details that were changed to promote the system and/or the setting. Indeed! I have to say I hadn't realized it was an official difference before today (since I usually either set height myself).

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. EDIT 2: Doing the math, average elf height comes out at 5'8'' for the males and 5'3'' for the females. Maybe everyone in the novels/games/art is exceedingly average? ROFL! "Wood elf got wood!" That's the funniest shit I've heard all day, dude. At least it's better than their other name, 'copper elves,' which implies that they charge pretty cheaply for that hardwood of theirs.

Actually, I checked the other elves and that's pretty much the norm for ALL elves in Faerun (sun and moon elves are slimmer, but just as tall). The only ones who get different height tables are Avariel (5'0''+2d8 for males) and drow (same as the standard elf of the Player's Handbook, which would be 4'5'' +2d6 for males). I think Forgotten Realms was aiming for a Tolkien version of elves. Kind of. LMAO, shooting for a 'morning wood' pun? Thank you! I got the idea of the mark from Planescape: Torment, combining that with Lathander's plan to do some wacky hijinks that would forever change the setting (Faiths and Pantheons calls it "the Deliverance") and the plot from NWN gave me this particular plot bunny. And yes, exactly! Faerûn is this huge hotbed of monsters and archmages and adventurers wanting to make a name for themselves. Nobody (that I know of) explores all the nasty things that come with glory. Well, let me just say this: it's not going to be a bed of roses. Yeah, it really does vary a lot from edition to edition. Why, look at 4E, we have elves (5'4''-6'0'') and eladrin (5'5''-6'1'') who are both slightly shorter than humans (5'6''-6'2''). I think the 'short, cute elves' thing is a holdover from Greyhawk, D&D's "official" setting for 3E. As I mentioned above, you can see from the setting's history and lore that FR has taken a much more traditional take on elves, preserving a very Tolkienesque feel. LOL, I don't mind short, cute little elves at all. They have their own... ahem, unique charm. Hah, no! Half-elemental is a perfectly viable template from Manual of the Planes that I slapped upon a Rashemi human. I was originally going to make her an aquatic fey of some sort (rusalka, sirine, etc.) but then I opted for a more human angle. Mainly so that I can do the "mad fey" thing in another story later on. The awesome thing about half-elemental is that it doesn't need to be a cross-breed thing, like half-celestial, half-dragon and the like (since elementals can't reproduce sexually). Instead, you're encouraged to come up with your own justification for the template. Mine, in this case, is that the water elemental bonded with her out of gratitude, and serves her until it feels its debt has been repaid. The spirit wolf, on the other hand, is the spirit shaman's spirit companion given a background. She didn't just get one automatically when she took her first level in the class, she actually had to go out and get herself one. And heh, I think she's probably my favourite character. Mainly because she lets me get really creative in her speech. If you asked her what would she want for dinner, she might stare at you blankly (with the creepy misty eyes!) and say "the tears of a thousand ghosts, the dark breeze of Amn, the flesh of the death-rider that never stops to rest, that never sleeps, that never dies." And Nephis, which is likely the sanest character of the bunch, would probably reply something like "Sorry love, we're all out of those. Here, have some stew." Oooh, yes. Tall and lanky is hot. And so is cute and tiny. And hell, I could go for a human-sized, bulky, gladiator-style elf too (barbarian wild elves, mrowr!). But anyway, yeah, they're all pretty crazy. The thing is that I was aiming for a more realistic approach to your typical fantasy backgrounds (the sneaky thief being unable to form deep relationships, the guy hounded by a fiend becoming incredibly paranoid, the knight on a quest to revive his lover being shone not in a heroic, romantic light, but as a deeply self-deluded man, the mad seer being... well, truly insane and not just cryptic, etc.). The aasimar and the tiefling will probably banter a lot. It's just how those things work. But then again, the snark quotient in this party is through the roof. The multiclassing thing (with Gestalt, even! Talk about self-indulgence right there!) was just for fun. It's a story, not a game, and if I want a sneaky wizard, a bardic paladin, a witchy cleric or a woodsy swordsman, I can just flick my magic fingers and voilà, it happens. But I kind of like building the characters, to set myself boundaries for what they can and can't do (which helps me with the drama throughout the story, not to mention the fight scenes). Besides, the prestige classes I picked change the character in some way. Nightsong Infiltrator is all about teamwork, which is precisely what Nephis lacks, and Shadowcrafter serves to emphasise her wholehearted devotion to illusion/shadow magic. Seeker of the Song is a personal journey for Arivan to learn how to express his grief, while Heartwarder is him reaching to to Sune for consolation. Divine Oracle and Contemplative are pretty self-explanatory, they're all aspects of divine, perhaps madness-inducing wisdom. Dervish is the manifestation of Ruathiel's prowess with the blade, Highland Stalker is the result of his constant, paranoid escape and pursuit through the wilderness. And with Aeron, well, the guy is really THAT devoted to Lathander (and packs a surprising punch). Either way, I'm doing it mostly for the fluff and to spice up my fight scenes. I think it's important to know what your characters are (and most importantly, aren't!) capable of. It can serve as a good source of tension and drama to exploit your characters' weak spots and test their teamwork skills. And LMAO, yes. Especially with twitchy guy. "Did your shadow just move on its own?!?!" "Yes, yes it did. It does that at times. Must be hungry. *winks*" 1) DOH. 2) Erm, yes, that's actually true, contradictory as it sounds. He doesn't like thinking about what happened at all, telling himself over and over that he'll get the cash, find himself a high-level cleric to cast True Resurrection and it will all snap back to how it was. In order to move on, he must confront his past, deal with it and accept it. He's not doing any of that. Am I making any sense here? Thanks all for your comments! Feel free to point out anything else that catches your eye!

HeroForge (a spreadsheet for D&D) has a height/weight/age randomiser for the most common races. I kid you not, that's what I got. But maybe there's a mistake? I'll check if it's possible. EDIT: Races of Faerun gives the randomiser for a male wood elf as 4'10'' + 2d10 inches. 6'4'' is, in fact, within the possibilities. EDIT 2: Hmmm, might prove to be a distracting detail, though. I'll cut him half a foot.

Solved.

Deconstruction, as defined by Wikipedia, is the act of incessantly pursuing a concept's logical ramifications to their bitter ends, to demonstrate that the very foundations upon which it is built are indeed logically contradictory or invalid. I will be referring to this philosophy from a literary point of view, to its application in the stories we write. Are you a fan of deconstruction? Do you enjoy writing a story that pulls apart the clichés and conventions upon which it's built, to show the reader what would happen, perhaps, if one were to forgo the rules of drama, sex, hilarity and whatnot, in order to explore what would happen in reality with those conventions? Or are you perhaps abhorred by such pretence, seeing deconstruction as the surest way to kill a story, to murder that ineffable connection between the reader and the author? Or are you utterly apathetic one way or another? To help spark the debate: Deconstruction can (and often very much WILL) shatter the story's illusion or 'mystique' by breaking the conventions between reader and author. The author will, very deliberately, betray the reader's expectations in order to explore the ramifications of a concept. Perhaps the sex between two characters who love each other very much is, in fact, simply awful; or perhaps the antagonist of the story does not seek to do anything villainous at all, and appears to be so merely because it opposes the protagonists (or perhaps the story is, in fact, told the other way about!). Maybe the protagonists do not overcome their flaws, maybe magic isn't handled the way we always see it, mayhap realism trumps escapism and the cheerful, happy story has a dark, depressing finale that solves absolutely nothing. There is no climax, no denouement, no happily ever after. It is, then, a waste of the reader's time. Do we not seek escapism in fiction? And especially in genres like fantasy, are we not attacking the very metaphysical core of the genre itself, its ability to transport us to another world to escape our daily lives? Is deconstruction a bad thing, then? But why is it, then, that it is often held in such high regard? Why do readers cheer when they see something handled logically, that brings a refreshing breeze to revitalize a dying genre? Is it perhaps the old craving to see something new, something fresh? Or do we all seek to deconstruct the very conventions we hold dear? Or is it once again a question of temperance, to know exactly how much to deconstruct a story to present a new point of view, but leaving enough conventions intact to enable the escapism so often sought? And what about reconstruction, the act that may follow a deconstruction, in which the broken bits and pieces of the concept are put back together under a new light? Is reconstruction the 'saving grace' of its catabolic counterpart? Or does it ruin the very purpose of deconstructing in the first place? Let me hear your thoughts!