[Lack of reviews.]

I'd say a fair number of us have been insulted in that manner. Yes, it is an insult. If a reader goes out of his or her way to give you what you ask for, and because you dislike hearing truth you delete the review, that makes reviewers who used to be willing to give that kind of review reluctant to do so.

A: Amen. You are officially preaching to the choir because I am one hundred and ten percent upon the same page of late. The only question left seems to be; how can we correct the ongoing insult that so many readers now feel because of getting treated so badly by that ilk?

[Lack of reviews.]

I guess that I can say as a newbie to writing that since I am not receiving many reviews and lots of hits must indicate that my story is perfect and needs no improvement. *snickers...Oh well...as the old saying says, 'beggars can't be choosers' and I should be thankful that at least people are reading my work...Although it would really be nice to receive a praise here and there that they like my plot and where it is heading. Does that make me selfish to say that? I don't mind criticism in fact I am use to receiving negative comments since I have developed a thick skin over the years. I have come to accept the fact that some people will like your work and others will not.

A: Welcome to AFFnet forums, Crystalandra. Having a thick skin is a must have trait because there is no such thing as a perfect story without need for improvement. *Chuckles* You can ask any of the published authors on this site about their experiences with professional editors shredding their stories line by line to get it up to standards before their books hit the bookstore shelves to get that confirmed. You are also correct about beggars not being within a position of choosing who is still willing to give reviews. If you do ever receive a concrit review, don't delete it and others might start giving you reviews once they notice that you are willing to accept all your reviews without rancor.

The sad lack of reviews you also experience is probably, in part, the result of so many concrit reviews getting deleted by immature writers who continue begging for reviews with each chapter they upload, but delete every serious and thoughtful review that points out easily repaired errors. As a reader, I know I feel deeply insulted when reviews I have given others get deleted because it was not an empty fanpoodle. To be perfectly honest, I've become quite disheartened by the delete rate so have withdrawn from giving many reviews this last 6 weeks because I can no longer stomach the rudeness of such writers.

Perhaps someone can devise an easy poll where readers can vote about the number of reviews they have given that got deleted because it contained constructive pointers someday. I would love to know just how many readers have gotten insulted until they quit leaving reviews for strangers.

[Reviews anyone?]

Another factor might be that people don't come to a site called "Adultfanfiction" looking for something other than fan fiction. I imagine that some people take one glance at the Originals category and think, "That makes no sense."

A: Yeah I had that thought several times when I heard that there was an original stories section. Took me a while to get into that part of the archive because I had no idea of what to think the first month here. I made the click that the fiction press sister site to FFnet concept was combined into this single archive after a few weeks of feeling disoriented about original stories being in a fanfiction named archive. Now I am able to flit between different stories in both sectors easily enough, but I had to figure out the lay out and such for the originals before I was comfortable trying to look for reading materials.

[Reviews anyone?]

Nonetheless, maybe I'll be brave and check out one of your other fics at some point.

A: George, you should not have to read things that make you uncomfortable ever. I see no reason for you to not enjoy things that you take the time to read. If you feel you have to brave something, I can't imagine it being a pleasant pastime for you to read anything beyond "Shop Talk." That is truly safe because it is a car tech one shot. Honestly, I kind of presume the guys who read my work are skimming through chapters starting in "Alternate Tracks" to get to the car stuff. ROFL. I have a couple automobile shade tree mechanic junkies who love the chapters with the characters discussing car mods. So far they like the more car-centric if WIP status "Driven Heart" from the input I have gotten from the ones whom I swapped email addys with over 3 years. They skip over italics sections, so they can enjoy the car jargon and spoiler heavy themes I am tweaking to fit the rest of the series.

I will admit to being in that group. I don't really want to see guys getting romantic or getting it on, and I'm also not big on non-canonical relationships in general (which I'm sure would have half the people on AFF asking, "Then why are you even here? That's what fanfic is!")

A: To be blunt, I think you should write and read whatever makes you the happiest, George. A story you are happy with will always be superior to a story you feel miserable writing in my opinion. This site is not about fitting into some generic mold of writing non-cannon couples simply because your story fits into a specific fandom category. I think this is a place for all writers who wish to write compelling stories to the best of their human ability. To my way of thinking, Fan fiction is about taking the cannon ideals and taking the characters into new experiences, and directions that the imagination conjures for entertainment. What if is the foundation off all fanfiction, and that should never be limited by narrow minds. This is a place to blow steam and release the pressure valve of real life. You belong here as surely as any other writer on this site so don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

Funny thing about my ongoing series was how I only started the project because I was sick of the non stop stupidity of impossible car race scenes, and even sicker of everyone writing Takumi X Ryosuke fics at FFnet. I started this because I was so disgusted I decided to blow a lot of steam about lack of research and knowledge in so many of the stories I have seen at FFnet. I decided to dump the preferred "slash couple de jour" out the window and stamp all over the rabid fangirl sacred ground because of their overwhelming ignorance about cars. To me, cars are equally sacred, especially street racing which I did when I was younger. Since Takumi and Keisuke are not the "Slash couple de jour," does that mean my stories should not be here? OF course not. We both have a place in this site.

In my case, the attempt to deeply ruffle vapid fangirl feathers backfired on me big time! The gals adored Keisuke's hard core struggle and denial about being a bisexual falling for Takumi in the 1st novel "A Rivalry Revealed." The bonus male readership came from my including actual automotive knowledge to make accidents and racing scenarios realistic. ROFL. . . . Making sure I tag any iffy material as best a humanly possible started after several guys sent me protest PM's asking for the iffy sex-centric or foreplay heavy warnings when I got into "Alternate Tracks." I figure it was a great lesson for me to have the guys gang up on me in PM like they did when Alternate Tracks was fresh posted. I took their feelings in to account, and revised to put the tags in place. I have been thanks several times for that extra consideration. Far as I'm concerned, I'm sure you do things that are equally considerate for your reader base. I can also get into a well written hetero story. I'm sure plenty of people here feel the same as you about cannon couples being sacred and untouchable for a number of fandoms. So by all means, continue reading and writing what makes you happy, and ignore anyone who has a small mind. This is a place to explore possibilities beyond the original designers I figure.

Anyway, I think I best shut up because I seem to have developed diarrhea of the keyboard at this point.

[Funny Typos]

I just got a big laugh compliments of one of my friend's facebook post. "Husband says my nails remind him of skittles. I painted them people and a bright yellow." I started seeing nano sized people stuck upon her nails like flies trapped upon fly paper. this one made me think she is deserving a funniest typo of the day award for this hilarious post.

[Reviews anyone?]

Not really, no. I think part of it, and I'm going to use this as an example (you don't have to read the story that goes with it if you don't want to) is the way that concrit is received.

http://hp.adult-fanfiction.org/review.php?set=read&no=600094447&limit=&page=9

So, first thing is how I even had to preface my review with a disclaimer - not the part about only being a reader and not reviewing it as a staff issue - but the whole bit about "I'm not attacking you."

I personally feel I shouldn't have to say that. But I do. Because writers (younger ones especially) tend to take any statement that their writing didn't fall from heaven as a personal insult, when, as a reader, all I'm trying to do is give you feedback. So when the response to "hey, here's some things to think about" is "oh my god, how dare you?!" (not that this author did, but understand the general reaction), I can see why people don't want to review.

Hells, my bio is all about the types of reviews I tend to leave. Because people get pissy about them. I don't think you should be flamed, that any actual writer should (I'm leaving thieves out of that equation), but I can appreciate that at least it's feedback. You know somebody read it, and they had a reaction - even if it was completely negative.

Basically, a lot of the issue has to do with author reactions for the last several years while reviews were left. Reviews tapered off because when experienced writers were trying to help less experienced or younger writers, they either came across as abrasive or the author had a "my shit is gold" complex. So now, the entire community has to suffer for it.

I have to wonder, honestly and truly, if a lot of those wondering what happened to the reviews now are the same ones who had the inappropriate reactions previously. (And I'm suddenly wondering if that's a worthy research project....)

A: I checked out the review page and read the reviews from you and the other reviewers. To be honest I love the fact that you feel compelled to leave a disclaimer before you give your review. Tells me I am not the only one who knows how thin skinned so many writers have become in the last decade. Perhaps I should start doing something similar despite finding the notion equally insulting on several levels. I know the majority of my thoughtful reviews get deleted. On a normal Reading Day, I can leave an average of 10 to 15 reviews for roughly 5 writers. During my first 2 months here, I gave so many more reviews than I do on my reading day schedule now. However, after seeing how many times my reviews have gotten erased, due to checking back with the stories pages for each writer I reviewed, I have curtailed which authors get reviews from me. The majority of my reviews vanished within a week I discovered. Can I be blamed for curtaining who I review when such problems are taken into consideration? How many other readers have been disrespected by the writers who beg for reviews in their A/N section with every single posted chapter?

When I read and review, I save the author's profile page in my bookmarks under fan fiction until I discover that the writer deletes my reviews. Those who delete my reviews get added to my little handwritten black book, and get removed from my bookmarks. When in doubt, I have the list of "Do Not Review" writers that is growing by leaps and bounds. I just bought a notebook because I can tell in a couple months time that the list is already getting obscene. Authors who have not deleted my reviews are still in my fanfic bookmark folder, and I do check back to see if they have added anything to the stories they posted.

My problem with getting my reviews deleted is based upon knowing I give good feedback on the strengths, then focus on the concrete grammar/spelling problems that stick out like busted tree limbs. I only leave examples of the repetitious problem sentences to demonstrate the needed repairs if the specific problem proves overwhelming to read. I'll post one of my review pages here so you can see an example of my reviewing style.

http://tv.adult-fanfiction.org/review.php?set=read&no=600097952

This author requested reviews of me specifically in shout box, plus left the reviews I gave in place. I will continue reading anything they choose to write and post because they showed me courtesy when they left my reviews intact. I currently ask admin members for names of authors who have the maturity to leave concrit reviews up on their review pages. Very tacky and sad, but I got sick of bratty "My Shit's Gold" variety review beggars who delete my reviews if I refuse to give them fanpoodle nonsense.

Personally, I would love to see a thread created that is dedicated to listing genuine concrit review loving authors' profile pages. The "You review for me and I will review for you" threads I have seen limit which genre I can read and give a review to, plus I also have to put up my own stories to adhere to the rules of said thread. Some days I only wish to read, and feeling I can only read the latest posted story link does not make me particularly happy.

If you don't get a lot of reviews, I'm sure it has a lot more to do with the size of your chosen fandom than with the quality of your writing. Even people I know who are into anime (not that I know terribly many) tend to say, "INITIAL D? Is that the one about cars?" And the fact that your stories are mostly M/M probably cuts pretty deeply into even that group.

A: Laughing hard about the oh so true and insightful Initial D jab, George. Initial D archive only has 2 pages of fan fiction at the moment. To be honest, I probably have the current "lion's share" of reviews for my specific archive because of my FFnet core group of readers following me to AFFnet. However, as you mentioned, Initial D is a tiny archive which does not say much for the reviews I have gotten to date. Although, it is kind of depressing that there is so little traffic in my written series' archive. Massive archives such as Harry Potter and similar archives have their own name tag, and much more material to offer readers. My work is hidden under the Anime tag in the G to L section. Takes time to hunt it down to read what little there is on AFFNet. This subdomain page shows how far down the list my fandom is, and there are only 28 fics to choose from for the readers. With so few writers, or stories to choose between, I am not surprised that there is so little traffic. Still, I am not the least surprised that Initial D gets overlooked by potential readers when it is such a skimpy pickings archive section.

http://anime.adult-fanfiction.org/main.php?cat=13

I recognize that very male friendly anime often turn women completely off so genre obscurity is the expected result. I do have a small following, mostly men who skip the blatantly tagged "WARNING: GRAPHIC LEMON" first line chapters. They don't mind the theme of evolving depth in a gay relationship, but they are die hard "I do not want to read about two men in bed together" leaning. Knowing that I actively have a male audience beside the female, I do take that into consideration for all of my posts. I keep sex themes very low key in all but Lemon chapters. The men who like my work are not upset that gay romance is one of my plot thread because I offer other, equally strong plot threads in my stories. ROFL. They get to read car mechanics, races, vicious street fights, and other material alongside the evolving relationship theme. Mot of my stories reflect a multitude of diverse human interactions that encompass a number of relationship types beyond the gay couple's involvement.

Anyway, thanks for the idea about disclaiming before reviewing a tale, Rogue. I also want to thank you, George for recognizing how obscure my fandom is, and the contribution it makes to my lack of ongoing reviews. You both made my day brighter with your newest weigh in on this subject this morning.

[this site's on fire!]

Sorry, but I have to admit that I laugh my ass off in every episode of Quantum Leap where Scott Bakula is wearing a dress.

It was the dresses that made it impossible for me to watch all of the Quantum Leap program. Unless you have your own Marty experience you would never be able to understand the creation of my particular revulsion. Then again, I would not wish that particular cross-dressing, drama screaming queen on anyone. ****Facepalm**** Very traumatic experiences created the aversion. I am even struggling to write a cross dresser in my stories to get past the unusual revulsion created because of having Marty around for several years. Still can't stand the phrase "You slut you. . . Oh wait, that's me!" Shudders.

[this site's on fire!]

I was thinking about this thread recently when I was watching AMERICA'S GOT TALENT. The act was two male acrobats, one wearing a dress, who were performing impressive feats of strength and balance interspersed with some clearly homoerotic sight gags. My first thought was, "Man, I bet a lot of the women on AFF would LOVE this."

Hm, don't know about other women, but I would be very inclined to turn the show off personally. Then again, I am very finicky about Yaoi/Slash that I will watch or read. A guy in a dress is a complete turn off and revulsion causing reflex. The thought of a man in a dress really is gross to me sorry to say. But thanks for thinking of us girls as you watched it. I'm sure plenty of the girls here would have loved it if they did not see it.

[Best or Worst review you've ever gotten]

Thanks for the information. I had no idea that Rosetta was set up that way. I have seen the Rosetta for Spanish in my area and each is over 100 bucks. That is a pretty big chunk of change to me at the moment, but I do have a B-day coming up so maybe everyone will get together and give me one gift. At least, I can dream . . .

[Is this an insane/idiotic story idea?]

You're quite welcome. Good luck on coming up with a dazzling tale of supernatural beings. I know there are actual published authors writing about shape shifter dragons who play at people and other critters who play human out there, so you might even find a niche for readers who love it.

[Is this an insane/idiotic story idea?]

To be very honest, it is all in how you tell the story you have in mind. Ideas are never truly bad so long as the stakes for your character remain high enough to force the character to make choices and to overcome the problems presented to them in the story. If you have a good sense of character, and an unusual plot to share, then go ahead and write it out. IF it remains weak and uninteresting, scrap it. Either way, do continue writing. Good luck with your writing adventures.

[Best or Worst review you've ever gotten]

I am studying Japanese on the Rosetta Stone, not savvy but some day; something you might also like to know, if you don't already, is that they have about a dozen for "I" as in myself, and some are gender specific.

You might think about getting Rosetta Stone Japanese for yourself. It is actually a lot of fun.,

Does it include the written out romanji spellings for the various words that they use? I need a book type guide, and I heard Rosettta Stone is only a listen and repeat interactive verbal immersion CD-rom. Someone told me that you can hear and mimic the inflections into your microphone to get double checked by the program. In my area they carry Spanish Rosetta Stone, but it is really expensive, so if the program does not include the writing forms and spellings, it seems like a waste of money for my specific needs. 150.00 is a lot of cash to spend when I am so broke all the time.

[[Research Assistance] Ask The Forumers]

Hi hi folks!

I like this idea of having a research help thread! I'm fairly good with Japanese culture and mythology, as well as East-Coast Canada and Quebec history; who knows, it might get useful to someone. I also have general gaming knowledge, developping companies, marketing, MMORPGs, and video game QA (I'm currently working for a localization team for a third-party QA company). If you need French language-related questions, French is my main language (hence my localization job, in French). I'm a Final Fantasy geek too XD.

As for what I need help with... let's start with the basics. *clears throat*

I write slash/yaoi mostly; that, I'm fine on its own XD. I'm heavily inspired by videogame storytelling; I like sword fights, I like action/adventure, I like epic storylines. Combined with my newly-discovered love for what I could call Viking metal, I've taken a liking to the Norse mythology, which has led me to create a plot about a rag-tag team of various people going on a journey, each with their own goal and stuff. Typical action/adventure story with a healthy dose of slash. (I like my gay warriors, seriously, we need more of those in the videogame world. Skyrim is made of win for that.)

My problem is that I have little knowledge of Norse CULTURE. Mythology, I have access to. Culture... it's getting harder to find information. Especially when it comes to daily life, rituals, social/cultural taboos, food and so on. My story will most likely be a mix of the Viking Age idealized epics and the more accurate Norse culture.

So, even if I'm not sticking to either/or parts, I need inspiration to make it a little more believable than the romanced version of the Vikings, but epic enough to make it less boring.

Even if it's just basic culture-related links, I'd greatly appreciate help for this.

Thank you for your help! ^^

Sorry that this input is arriving very late in the game, and yet since I do know about being raised somewhat Viking, I thought I would share a few pointers, Shiva. The romanticized version of Vikings is a bunch of bull so I won't sugar coat the information I will give you about how rough and tough growing up in an actual olde school/Faith believing gang of Vikings who mixed with other compatible religiously persecuted groups to form my unusual and very non Christian family tree.

I was born to a hardcore "old school" Viking father as a second chance child. He was stomping 60 when I was born and my mom was 20, so you can imagine right away how strong and lively a man he was when he was alive. I was raised with a fair amount of the Norse/Scandinavian Viking culture from the turn of the century. I have a very unusual perspective to give you as someone raised by a a real "Rune Master" from the perspective of seeing it every day in action.

None of the watered down kinder and gentle versions of modern society got taught to me by my dad. Mine was a hard childhood because of the strong Viking beliefs that were instilled into my personality despite the rest of the family's multiple attempts to "coddle me" as dad so contemptuously put it. My mother did insure I got more of her family values whenever possible, but had to fight every step of the way beside my Native American Medicine woman grandmother. If not for my biological dad having such a fear of Meemah Clouded Moon's "Holy Healer Powers" I probably would be a die hard Viking to the marrow of my own bones. Instead, his harshness was tempered considerably by my Amerindian and Irish families efforts.

First of all, most people do not realize how the harsh, inhospitable conditions of the Viking landscape molded the people for so many centuries. Lacking in fertile lands to raise crops, and harsh weather conditions that also made growing food nearly impossible created a very aggressive personality and a tenacious need to survive. The big thing to keep i mind is how such conditions shaped the people. To outsiders, the Viking lifestyle is very cold, harsh, and violence prone. Hardy and rowdy are important aspects to keep in mind if you are writing about Viking people. They lived hard, and died even harder if they upheld the Olde Ways. My own Viking branch of the family is considered completely insane by the rest due to these specific traits. However, I must say in my Viking heritage family's defense, survival of the fittest as a way of life that spans countless centuries which insured that I survived things that would break the majority of modern people who are ill equipped to stand strong in the face of adversity. Strength, both in the mental, and physical levels, are instilled young. The strength taught can be the best defense of all I discovered during my teenaged years. It has helped me to overcome the impossible time and again. I no longer resent the harsh lessons I learned as a child now that I have used those taught traits in my personal life.

Genuine Vikings are Raiders, and hate to stay in one place for long. The core values include an obsession with personal strength and unflagging honor that will seem twisted to outsiders who do not understand the underpinnings of genuine Viking strength codes. Blood is sacred, and spilling blood gets you closer to the Viking concept of heaven. Battle is another day at the office type of activity and in my family, reunions always seemed to disintegrate into verbal and physical battles and contests involving strength and sportsmanship.

Fear and failure are the biggest taboos I know of from getting raised to despise them with an unholy passion. Excuses will get you beaten half to death by a real Viking faith follower. Excuses are not allowed, and if you fail, you are expected to pick yourself up and fight despite the odds you are faced with in any given situation. Anyone in the family that proves unacceptably weak gets ostracized, including those with serious medical problems. Outcasts can not return to the family fold as a rule. They are too big of an embarrassment. This aversion goes way back into the far distant past when very weak people could bring unilateral death sentences to the whole clan and village. When push comes to shove, survival of the majority still holds great emotional power over the unconscious values of hard core Vikings that adhere to the olde faith.

Another feature of the old school Viking heritage and psyche is the unease men have with the Woman's Menstrual cycles which is regarded as having a supernatural element of mystique. Women are treated poorly in genuine, classic Viking culture, unless they are very strong and capable individuals. Only female warriors are treated with the respect given to equals. The rest are relegated to Thrall (slave) status. You will not find any Knights in Shining Armor in the old school Viking lifestyle. Only contempt exists for weak individuals. Another feature is whether male or female, either carry your weight or leave is another underpinning of the mind set I was raised with personally.

This specific mind set does cross over into the homosexuality angle. The act of homosexuality was both a binding force to increase the desire to protect your battle partner's survival chances, and to define who ruled over whom in many cases. However, when one male preferred to be the bottom, he automatically gave up a lot of his personal pride and strength in the eyes of other warriors. Most of what I know is the shared shift between who dominated at any given time within a shield mate scenario from the things I overheard the uncles discussing with my dad as a kid. Such men were acting like women and so deserved less respect because they were weaker in other parts of their lives. The holy people or Rune masters who practiced the more effeminate magics were also treated with extra suspicion by the warrior cast.

Children are given a break until they reach the age of 6 when they begin training to be strong and competent people in their own right. In my family, the six year old kids were rounded up at the yearly family reunion and tested to see where their strengths lie. Those strong points were brought out over the next few years, with extra focus on fixing the weaknesses so that the kids could meet the expectations of the Hall Elders. Boys and girls both had to pass their rites of passage or they would never achieve adulthood status. Not sure about other families, but mine also kept the olde "rites of passage" alive through the early 80's before pressure from authorities forced them to stop. A lot of the children were taken away, including myself to end the rites of passage in that branch of my family tree. My Viking branch of the family is still dominated by a male leader who has absolute authority to shred anyone within the family that fails to meet the expectations of honor and duty to the hall or family clan also.

Anyway, I hope this helps you with future revisions if nothing else. It is coming a year late, but that could not be helped since I only found this thread today. Good luck with writing a non romanticized bunk story involving Vikings. I would like to read it some day.

[[Research Assistance] Ask The Forumers]

DOES ANYONE KNOW JAPANESE?????????

I got this review, and am now tearing my hair out trying to uncover which words I need to fix my Japanese Mini Dictionary I painstakingly put together. I bought a "Learn Japanese for Beginners" book that does not cover the different context specific use words I need to find out and get examples for from someone who knows. I genuinely wish to fix my series of completed novels. From this post, I also learned that the book misspelled a lot of the actual Japanese words I was using to denote Japanese from English conversation. Discovering from this post that Japanese use multiple words for "What" and "why" was a shocker. I am still working to get everything revised in the Japanese words category for all of my multiple completed novel tales within the Initial D series because I was lucky to get this review. Here's the wonderful review I got:

[i like the story a lot. The first time I read it was long time ago, when it was still fully presented on fanfiction net, and the second part was only somewhere in the middle of progress, I think. It fascinated me from the beginning and didn't let go, so now I decided to renew my memory and reread it (thanks to the fifth anime series finally appearing, but anyway). I was still extremely pleased. But.
Why did you use so many "japanese" words? Most of them are picking on my hearing (or reading in this case) and are usually unnecessary. You don't hear a Japanese saying "Kimi ha(wa) WHAT wo shite imasuka?" (君はWHATをしていますか) And I was really rolling on the floor every time someone cursed - it does sound funny when you see "naze/nani the hell".
If you still insist on using words in your work (your choice, really), then you should at least use them correctly. For example:
If you use "onnas" instead of "women" - then why do you still use "men", not "otoko"?
You use "ryoushin" and "aniki" - but instead of "otouto" you use "Little brother".
When you want to say "everyone", it's "minnasan" (みんなさん) - not "minasan"
With "isha" is used not "san", but "sensei", as any politic, teacher, doctor or simply very respected person. Though in your story better use the name with the suffix.
When you use "naze" - there's another word "doushite", and half of the times you use "naze" there should be "doushite" instead. Or even "douyatte". It's hard to find the examples as the story is big and I don't remember where I saw those, but here's one:
"I really don't understand naze Fujiwara san's behavior is unusual when we'r doing the same thing he is right now."
Naze means "what for", and here you have a different meaning of "why", better use "doushite". They have a few different "why", you know?
"Arigatou" (ありがとう), not "arigato".
"doumo" (どうも) - not "domo".
"doumo sumimasen" is Ok, but no "gozaimasu" - it is not used in apologies. If you want to stress an extreme apology, you'd better use "moushiwake arimasen" (もうしわけありません) - something along the line of "there is no forgiveness for me".
"Yoroshiku" is used only during the introductions or when a great help is given.
"Gomen nasai gozaimasu" - actually wrong, too. "Gomennasai onegaishimasu" (ごめんなさいおねがいします) is what you emotionally ment. Probably. Though if apology is to the person of higher ranking, then "gomennasai" is a rude mistake at all. (P.S.: besides, "gomen" and "nasai" aren't two words. "nasai" is simply the grammatical ending, so the simplified version sounds "gomen", when the word is stripped of all ending that add politeness.)
"Nani time do you get off" - well, there is a special case about it. Japanese say "Nan ji" for "what time".
"iie kidding" - extremely wrong grammatically. "Kidding ja nai", if you insist.

I hope it doesn't look like bullying, cause I didn't intend it to. The first time I read this I don't remember such words in the text, and now the whole effect of some angered speech is completely ruined because of "nani" every five words.
And if you wonder "what the hell is she blabbering about" or "what gives her the right to say so" - I'm finishing my 3rd year in University right now, Japanese major. Good luck with your muse - I definitely like the stuff she's smoking. ]

Now that I know there are problems, I am desperately seeking a Japanese savvy second language user to get my mini dictionary corrected so I can fine tooth comb, and repair every misused word in my series of stories. I honestly wish to fix my micro Japanese Dictionary for Dialog use to denote the differences in English and Japanese conversations. My story series ends in USA where the main speaking language has to shift to English. My Bilingual characters are going to be swapping out languages a lot by playing interpreters for their teammates at that point. I am trying to get the verbiage for the Japanese right and have run into a dozen brick walls to date. I have been revising the dictionary of terms as much as possible as I get feedback for the trouble spots, but I really need to work with someone who knows the language uses for the many ways Japanese people use the various What/Why and as sundry words in conversation. Will someone please help me correct this mini dictionary to reflect the multiple words used in their correct context? I have placed the current mini dictionary here so that people can see what I have managed to cobble together so far.

(This is my currently inaccurate) JAPANESE Vocab: I have given accented words in Japanese a second phonetic spelling because the Japanese elongate their vowels in a different way than the bar over the vowel is normally used in English. It is not meant to be a long vowel sound such as we learn in English classes. It is only made longer as it is said.

otosān =father (elongated a) is pronounced oh-toh-sahhhn / chichi - means dad. Used by very small children the most. oyaji = old man meaning dad slang/ okāsan=Mother (elongated a) oh- kahhh-sahn / ‘kāsan =Mother(less formal (elongated a) kahhh-sahn/ haha = Small children call their mom this. / ryōshin= parent(s) ryohhh-sheen (elongated o)/ ojīsan (elongated i) oh-jeee-sahn = grandfather/ obāsan (Elongated a) oh-bahhh-sahn= Grandmother/ kodomo = child/children / musuko = son / musume = daughter / onīsan (Elongated i) oh-neee-sahn= older brother (Also a frequent used honorific for a non related younger aged men) nī -(Elongated i)- neee- bro / Aniki =big brother/ Onīchan- (Elongated i)- oh-neee-chan; - Brother familiar term also a nickname parents give oldest son / onēsan (elongated e) oh-nehh-sahn = older sister (frequent used female honorific for non related young women) imootosan=little sister/ Otouto= little brother / mago- grandchild(ren)/ shonen=boy(s) / minasan= everyone/ onegai = I beg of you/please / yoroshiku = Literal translation is please take good care of this/it. Follows any favor request./ kudasai (koo-dah- sigh)= please ( implies to give) / Domo= (literal meaning is very much) implies thank you /sumimasen gozaimasu= very much sorry & excuse me (formal) /sumimasen = sorry or excuse me (less formal)/ gomen nasai gozaimasu (formal) most used form of sorry / Gomen na = (less formal friend & family oriented) apology /Arigato= (less formal) thanks /domo arigato gozaimasu= (formal or highest gratitude)/ baka=fool-idiot-dummy (interchangeable by context)/ Nani=what/Naze=why /hai =yes/ furoba = bathroom/ iie=no/ isha san= doctor Example; Takahashi-isha san is Ryosuke’s title after he graduates/ senumon-i = medical specialist/ machiaishitsu=waiting room/ kēisatsusho: kay-sah-tsoo-shoh = police station (Elongated e)/ kēsatsu- kehh-sah-tsoo = police (elongated e) / kēsatsukan = policeman or woman (Elongated e) / Ja or Ja na= goodbye / moshi moshi =hello = used in phone conversations / /Hachi go =8-5 (Itsuke’s car)/ Hachi Roku= 8-6 (Takumi’s car)

Okay, I await someone's generosity in helping me to untangle this micro dictionary's mess of inaccuracies. My deepest and sincerest gratitude up front for anyone who is willing to explain the mistakes and help me to get this repaired so it reflects real Japanese.

[Best or Worst review you've ever gotten]

I have gotten a few flames over the year, and yet those are almost always off topic, hate mongering against white people for some bizarre reason I can not fathom, and only ever happened on FFnet. Not one of the flames I have gotten ever had anything to do with my actual stories aside from using the half Native American OC as the main scape goat for why all European descent individuals in the USA needed to be slaughtered to save the world. I also got a fair number of FFnet Private messages for a while that were nasty because of the same OC, but they are not actually worth sharing because they are all very shallow and dull complaints with no concrete logic. ROFL. I have yet to run into the same problem here on AFFnet, so nothing to share of that caliber at the moment. I do not consider fanpoodle to be reviews because they give no concrit for me to improve as a writer, although they can be adorable to read because of reader enthusiasm. I do appreciate knowing I made someone's day brighter when I get such enthusiastic feedback.

My all time favorite reviews always include concrete feedback. I am very fortunate in the solid readership I have because my current fanfic following does point out specific problems for me to fix. Each review I get allows me to go back, revise and replace chapters to improve the story for future readers.

I'll share a couple of my current favorite reviews, although I am a tad frustrated that I did not get every drop of concise information for all the problem words I still have to figure out. Still, I am extremely grateful to Anonym-kun for having the courage to point the flaws out to me. Each piece of concrete explanation has improved my dialog a great deal as I continue to write this series, and take breaks to revise and repost the troublesome spots. Raymy was another who made me aware I had a few awkward spots for chapter 2 that I am trying to decide how better to phrase for clarity. Once I get all of these problems fixed on the computer chapter drafts, I have every intention of abusing the edit chapter button and replacing all the chapters in A Rivalry Revealed.

Discovering from this post that Japanese use multiple words for "What" and "why" was a shocker. I bought a "Learn Japanese for Beginners" book that does not cover the different context specific words I need to find. From this post I also learned that the book misspelled a lot of the actual Japanese words I was using to denote Japanese from English conversation. I am desperately seeking a Japanese savvy second language user to get my mini dictionary corrected so I can fine tooth comb, and repair every misused word in my series of stories. I am still working to get everything revised in the Japanese words category for all of my multiple completed novel tales within the Initial D series because I was lucky to get this review. However, with so many already complete novels and misc. other problems I have gotten pointed out by readers, it is a slow process. I placed the actual reviews in parenthesis.

(Both Reviews for: "A Rivalry Revealed"

#1) I like the story a lot. The first time I read it was long time ago, when it was still fully presented on fanfiction net, and the second part was only somewhere in the middle of progress, I think. It fascinated me from the beginning and didn't let go, so now I decided to renew my memory and reread it (thanks to the fifth anime series finally appearing, but anyway). I was still extremely pleased. But.
Why did you use so many "japanese" words? Most of them are picking on my hearing (or reading in this case) and are usually unnecessary. You don't hear a Japanese saying "Kimi ha(wa) WHAT wo shite imasuka?" (君はWHATをしていますか) And I was really rolling on the floor every time someone cursed - it does sound funny when you see "naze/nani the hell".
If you still insist on using words in your work (your choice, really), then you should at least use them correctly. For example:

If you use "onnas" instead of "women" - then why do you still use "men", not "otoko"?
You use "ryoushin" and "aniki" - but instead of "otouto" you use "Little brother".
When you want to say "everyone", it's "minnasan" (みんなさん) - not "minasan"
With "isha" is used not "san", but "sensei", as any politic, teacher, doctor or simply very respected person. Though in your story better use the name with the suffix.
When you use "naze" - there's another word "doushite", and half of the times you use "naze" there should be "doushite" instead. Or even "douyatte". It's hard to find the examples as the story is big and I don't remember where I saw those, but here's one:
"I really don't understand naze Fujiwara san's behavior is unusual when we'r doing the same thing he is right now."
Naze means "what for", and here you have a different meaning of "why", better use "doushite". They have a few different "why", you know?
"Arigatou" (ありがとう), not "arigato".
"doumo" (どうも) - not "domo".
"doumo sumimasen" is Ok, but no "gozaimasu" - it is not used in apologies. If you want to stress an extreme apology, you'd better use "moushiwake arimasen" (もうしわけありません) - something along the line of "there is no forgiveness for me".
"Yoroshiku" is used only during the introductions or when a great help is given.
"Gomen nasai gozaimasu" - actually wrong, too. "Gomennasai onegaishimasu" (ごめんなさいおねがいします) is what you emotionally ment. Probably. Though if apology is to the person of higher ranking, then "gomennasai" is a rude mistake at all. (P.S.: besides, "gomen" and "nasai" aren't two words. "nasai" is simply the grammatical ending, so the simplified version sounds "gomen", when the word is stripped of all ending that add politeness.)
"Nani time do you get off" - well, there is a special case about it. Japanese say "Nan ji" for "what time".
"iie kidding" - extremely wrong grammatically. "Kidding ja nai", if you insist.

I hope it doesn't look like bullying, cause I didn't intend it to. The first time I read this I don't remember such words in the text, and now the whole effect of some angered speech is completely ruined because of "nani" every five words.
And if you wonder "what the hell is she blabbering about" or "what gives her the right to say so" - I'm finishing my 3rd year in University right now, Japanese major. Good luck with your muse - I definitely like the stuff she's smoking.)

Another Review that made me smile and also made me aware of a glitch in my writing that needs correcting. Takumi's acute exhaustion did not quite come out correctly for the reader. Oh well, Bck to the drawing board for massive improvements to my story line.

#2) Chapter 2: When I read, "I have to help get that baka to bed", I got the impression of a double meaning which Keisuke wasn't aware of. It's fun to know what's going on with him before he does! I so enjoy the different descriptions of Takumi in Keisuke's mind:

damned little punk
spaced out little genius
that baka or that young baka

In Takumi's POV, I'm uncertain as to the cause of the blurry vision. I know that when I'm tired my eyes can go unfocused but to go blurry and stay that way even when you know it's happening, I haven't experienced. Are you implying that the lack of caffeine caused him to see blurry and blackout; his deep need for sleep finally catching up to him? )

Anyway, those are my offerings to share. I think they represent the majority of my reviews accurately. Each offers some kind of concrete criticism that allows me to refine each story which is the most important aspect of getting reviews to me at least. Every problem revealed is another nugget of gold to myself.

[Enough is Enough!]

I believe removing genuine trolls/flames/retaliation nonsense is reasonable and I never took that to issue in any way. To be honest, those kinds of reviews were not what sparked my Irish Viking temper to the ultimate of frustration levels recently. I have lost FFnet reviews since I have been slow and steady removing all of my work there also. I saved them in my writing program with the exceptions of the blathering suck up types myself. However, I think my greatest frustration has come from trying to be thoughtful and helpful which is a very different beast.

A "this sux balls" review is a flame and has no place in reviewing at all in my opinion. My understanding of Reviews are that readers are supposed to point out strengths and weaknesses within the story that they notice. Those strengths and weaknesses need to be expressed so a writer can write a better story that readers can enjoy all the more. Hence, my obscene irritation, and venting about this subject matter.

I almost want to beg the mods here to write a "How to give a review" article with the definition of what reviewing should look like so thick headed posers understand the difference between a fanpoodle and the real thing. Perhaps it is simply ignorance about the meaning of the term causing the troubles. All I can say for certain is that the vast majority of random fics I have read and reviewed no longer have the reviews I left for the writers. I know for a fact I was not cruel or brutal when I pointed out things like tense shifts or character pov shift mid paragraph. I always brought up the strengths whether it was descriptions, details, memorable characters, or interesting plot lines. I also always encouraged the poorer level writers to keep writing and refine their skills. So I know nothing I did could be construed as a flame/troll, or cruel.

[Requesting assistance with chronic plagiarist troll in HP and Twilight (FFN)]

Emailed, with my FFN account and a statement that this is why I will not post there any longer.

Perhaps your blunt and understandable response will finally get some kind of reprisal for this particularly offensive, and desperate for attention little troll. Losing members may be the only way to make the admins wake up to smell the reality of lost revenue because their advertisers will withdraw. Then again, as lazy as the admin has been for some time, who knows whether it will work or not. *Shrugs*

[Enough is Enough!]

This is a good rant, I to am dyslexic, and like you I work hard checking and re-checking my stories before I post them. By the time I post, I have likely read it 6 to 10 times, and still I end up missing a lot of stuff that I get told about in reviews.

Whenever I am informed of mistakes I make a mental note to re-read the story and fix the problems.

Lastly I have never deleted a review, even if I didn't agree with what was said.

Thanks for your reply, Ayasha. Many writers, and even published authors suffer from dyslexia, yet they give greater effort to insure they post/publish correct material. Every time I read threads, or see people using the illness as an excuse for not putting in honest thought/effort, it makes me boiling mad. In one day I saw a thread where every attempt to aide the supposed writer was met with a huge list of whines to explain why they could not attempt self improvement which triggered my "Last Straw" mentality. One thing I can not abide after fighting so hard to regain all I lost is whining "poor Me" excuses for why someone cannot attempt to improve and learn. The only way I can find some of the problems in my own writing are when people say paragraph 4 has forth instead of fourth type review input. It makes a world of difference in my ability to give people pleasant reading material instead of eye sore garbage.

I am relieved to know that you are another writer who does not delete reviews. Far too many do, and I have gotten insanely infuriated because I am the type to check an see if people do keep reviews so I know whether I am wasting my time if I read and review their work. Lazy, sloppy writing was bad at FFnet, but that was the reason people can only delete anon reviews, not signed. I begin to think it would be nice if AFFnet instituted the same policy to prevent frauds from deleting things simply because they do not like the truth. As it is, people still scream trolling, so the mods would get the I got trolled/flamed complaints like normal. If it is a genuine bash/flaming troll, the consequences would remain the same for the jerk leaving the review, if not, the review would stay up as a constant reminder that the writer needs to expend a little honest effort.

Thank you for making my day better this morning. I really appreciate knowing that I am not the only person who gives my reviewers respect when they use their valuable time to give me feedback.

[What makes a good title?]

For my personal taste, I always write the full story before I bother with giving any type of title. It is rare for me to put up an incomplete tale due to my fits and starts writing style. However, I also have readers who have followed me for a while, so expect me to do a massive upload a couple times a year. Due to my personal quirks and how involved I am in the writing of the stories from different POV character views, I use titles that always invoke an emotional/contents variety knee jerk response for readers. Evocative titles work very well for increasing your reader base many times.

Always align your titles to give hints about the real content of the story, or you will risk losing readers. Long titles do tend to turn off a fair chunk of reader traffic unless you are very well established with a hard core reader following. Many readers want short and insightful titles when scrolling down the lists for the fandom they are contemplating for an evening's relaxing read. This can be doubly true of a large archive like Harry Potter or Naruto which is rife with stories to tap. Due to working with a full Series of stories in a single fandom, I try to reflect the fandom story's contents to draw in readers. This tactic works very well for most writers.

These questions should help you to give your story the right title. What is the meat and potatoes of your specific story? What kind of emotional theme are you crafting for your main characters to cope with and/or overcome? Write out each dominant theme in 4 or fewer words whenever possible. See how many of your themes can be conjoined because of your micro descriptions of the stories main theme points. Contemplate how to give the kick needed based upon the themes you have devised, and smash a Word from each strong theme together if possible.

Here are examples of some names I used in writing for my fandom.

Driven Heart, the Prequel: obviously I am talking about cars and emotions. From the title alone, a reader knows this is going to be a choppy, emotional roller-coaster for someone who loves street racing. It was my fan base group's overwhelming request, and it is about confusion for a bisexual who is fighting tooth and nail to keep from falling in love with someone of their own gender.

A Rivalry Revealed: also very descriptive of the content's theme for the first, and original story I wrote on a whim that has become a series. You know someone is causing someone else trouble because of their conflicting emotions, or there would be no need to reveal anything. Such titles tend to be very self explanatory of the content. A genuine street racing rivalry exists in the actual anime/manga, so I used it as the bottom line theme for the cannon feeling story. You know that a lot is on the line, and the reader expects to see the cannon feeling elements of this story as our Bisex lead get's his emotions revealed to his crush.

Alternate Tracks is also very explanatory of the story contents. Since this is a Slash series, the content of the title tells readers they are going to read about moving into an alternate life style. Tracks conjures the notion of a bumpy, less driven road which gives the emotion clues about contents inside the tale. Readers of the fandom know there will be a bumpy ride and a lot of mixed emotions to read about within the story.

All For Love: Yet again, I give the readers a strong hint about the story's overall emotional and literal content. The Title makes a reader think about how far someone would go for the person that they love. The sky is the limit by implication. They know there are going to be new problems for the now established couple. They also expect to see that couple fighting tooth and nail to stay together.

As The Smoke Clears: this is a bit longer than the others, yet it also gives a distinctive impression about the story contents. Readers who have kept up with this series of angsty, darkly controversial stories know that relief is coming for the characters, although there will be rough patches because of the "Smoke" portion of the title. Smoke veils things from the eyes, so the readers know there are things that have yet to be resolved. They expect to be in for a surprise as the Smoke dissipates. Also, the implication is given that the smoke, or problem, is actively getting resolved. This title also touches upon street racing because tires smoke when cars take off from a stand still at the starting line. Burning rubber is the real term, but burned rubber leaves a cloud of smoke that does need to clear away before spectators can see the sum of the race. Secondary implication is that the metaphoric race is well underway, and the winners and losers are headed toward the finish line at full speed.

From these title examples, I think you can see where this post is going. Evoke emotions with your titles. The one you have for your Naruto story does not give me any real emotional or internal story content feeling to be honest.

In the Cold of Space, You Find the Heat of Suns is a very long title, plus all I can get from it is that this story takes place in outer space. Here are the knee jerk questions your title gave me so you can think about word impact and the underlying themes involved. Once you consider word impact as metaphor it should become easier to find good titles that will draw readers. I will leave you with the questions a reader is most likely to get from the title you have now.

Are you metaphorically trying to say that the characters are moving from a cold and emotionless life (Cold of Space is a metaphor for being ostracized and hated) inside the Ninja village, (Naruto comes to mind) and moving toward an accepting relationship? (the suns heat implies romance metaphorically)

Do you mean literal outer space adventures that specific Naruto characters are going to be participating in for some reason?

What are they supposed to accomplish while in outer space?

Wow, why is the name so long?

[this site's on fire!]

I had not seen that specific and very nice little interview excerpt. Really wish Hollywood and such would get the same clue that George RR Martin has going.

The mass media is a joke in my book and is the one problem all women need to wake up and refuse to allow any more power. Mass media really is feeding girls the stereotype branding right down to the most drab of cliches.

Print media isn't normally bad, so long as you find a decent author, however, after the kids foisted Pretty Little Liars down my throat recently, combined with said young women's comments . . . Is there really any hope for these young women? I am disturbed by the amount of hatred these teens through early 20's spout when it concerns other females. Some of the young Adult gals I know insist upon acting out the stereotype. It is Mass media's fault, not Print media. Yet I am seeing more of it without even trying to look for it in all the major fanfic archives I have visited. Not to mention the books these young adult gals flock to such as 50 shades, and Twilight.

To be honest, I avoid television. It was to my misfortune that I visited one of the kids I helped out before retiring from the abused child saving battle field due to health issues. She lives for the Pretty Little Liars series and books. Then again she also lives for Twilight, so guess who got stuck watching it with her because she missed her second mom? It was enough to turn me rabid against the majority of Mass Media outlets!

[this site's on fire!]

I write slash because I genuinely enjoy it, and any female characters in my slash stories are as fully rounded. I also write het, and my female characters there are not at all stereotyped, not even in the strong and independent woman mold. They're all just people, with strengths and weaknesses, and hopes and dreams. They love, and fight, and screw up, and make up. The genders are largely irrelevant.

I am glad I am not the last person on the planet who tries to create well rounded female characters. However, every time I write in a realistic female character with flaws, I seem to get accused of Mary Sue crap without fail by the majority of the readers. I was basing my statements upon the things I have read at some sites where female characters appear at all in a story. The media comments are more directed toward the television and movies i have had the misfortune of seeing of late. I watched a two hour stretch of television and wanted to puke because reality TV bit is so undertone with the sexism act like a doll class female crud I couln't stand it.

[this site's on fire!]

The point of stereotyping females by the mass media is about the ability to write well rounded female characters based upon personality strengths. Such writing rarely pays of late. Strong female characters must fit the bitchy PMS stereotype, or similar to get a publisher to look at the story. Otherwise, the female has to be a sex object and siren that men will pant over. She can be the strong and admirable male lead's devoted little wife, or she can be the sex interest, but she must never star based upon her own personality or actual achievement. If she is in the exec rule, she's a harpy and worse.

These are some of the reasons that Slash has such a huge market in part. Girls are force fed Cosmo mags and fake be beautiful or never be acceptable garbage to the point few of them will pick up a story about a genuine well rounded woman character. IT is a sad state, and yet it is quite prevalent in most fan fiction on this site. Read with an eye toward the sexism against women in the majority of fics and you will start to pick up on the reason for the trends.

[this site's on fire!]

Honestly, I post my stories on AFF and other sites BECAUSE they're not marketable. Nobody (nobody in their right mind, anyway) is going to pay me to write PHINEAS AND FERB porn, or even the furry stories I post on Hentai Foundry and Inkbunny. If I thought anybody would buy such things, maybe I'd slap a price tag on them.

Having had a sort of "previous life" as a fanfic writer in a different fandom years ago, I just accept the fact that there is going to be a ton of slash wherever you find fanfic. Nature of the beast, and all that.

Chuckles as I read your thoughts about the topic. The majority of writers are in fact only interested in writing as a hobby, which is perfectly fine. However, a lot of the people writing fan fiction, or even original tales to share on this site ultimately do have dreams of becoming published writers who get paid for their energy and efforts. The ones who are serious about practicing genuine writing skills to hone talent may even get to the point of seeing a book proposal. However, with that getting said, the trends lean heavily toward slash tales because of the popularity of said stories. In a world mad with stereotyping females into a set molded shell that moves like robot dolls in the media world, it is hard to avoid.

I can see potentials in most stories if one writes an original specific furry to potentially get a market for your writing also due to the heavy emphasis upon sex sells in the current Print media industry. E-book companies are buying ever stranger material so long as it includes sex of some kind. With an Ivy League college recently getting a lot of press coverage over hosting a seminar about tolerance for bestiality practitioners, who knows? Perhaps in a couple more years your work, outside of a known copyrighted fandom, could even become a published work if you study the structuring of language and revise it into a jewel.

[Enough is Enough!]

I am not a politically correct person, so do not expect me to mince words in this rant. I have plenty to say about the frauds who plague this and other sites. :sarcasm: is now in session because I have already read all of the favorite nauseating, too often written, worn out excuses that have triggered this overwhelmed frustration induced rant. I do apologize in advance for this being such a tactless tirade. I really need to get this off my chest because I am so frustrated with things I continue to read every time I come here.

What is the point of writing if the document is a thoughtless piece of slop without merit pounded out willy-dilly on a whim, and posted without revision? Why do some people insist upon placing such infantile things in the archives, and then get angry when someone with a basic grasp of English structure mentions a few of the problems that need addressing to create a better reading tale? Why do some individuals whine incessantly about contrit feedback, instead of considering that there might be a real problem which can be corrected with a little expended effort? If one does not understand the foundations of proper grammar and spelling, why insist upon being vile to those who seek to give actual valid aide? When did writing become a place for cop outs and egotists? Who ever said that everyone should be patted upon the head simply because they bothered to put something up at a free site like AFFnet, or FFnet? What have the lazy done to earn a touch of praise and accolades for the illiterate slop they insist upon posting?

Absolutely nothing gets done when a poorly written piece is added to the archives is my response. Give feedback to such frauds, and they delete the reviews, or proclaim concrit reviews to be trolling! Such frauds are too infantile to accept that they can improve if they get off their lazy butts and do a little research! YE Gods Forbid that such individuals ever face the wrath of a genuine editor. I can see the suicide rate escalating fast if they ever had to remove the blinders from their eyes. Such people are the bane of the writing hobbiest, and professional alike. What is the point of giving reviews if the writer is unwilling to consider critical mistake portions of an honest review? Why do lazy, insecure asses bother to beg for reviews while remaining too immature to give such reviews any thought toward self improvement? How can people call themselves writers when they are so obstinately unwilling to learn how to take a fair reading story, and make it into a genuinely beautiful tale that is memorable? Why do such frauds feel so compelled to provide a plethora of meaningless excuses for their mistakes, instead of attempting to change for the better?

The reason for my ranting questions: I am so sick and tired of the whining, lame excuses that the vast majority of writers like to pull out of their asses. People seem to love bellyaching, and giving excuses to avoid improving anything they slop together and post. To me, people are flat against learning the diverse aspects, and complex elements involved with writing style. I am also fed up with jerks who refuse to pull their heads out of the asses when it comes to a reasonable review meant to give genuine help. Nobody is attacking when they send a review that something was messed up when they mention grammar/spelling problems.

Any idea why I might be so angry about the plethora of bull I read in forums, and in author's notes in the main archive? Reality Check: I had a massive stroke a few years ago. It took two years to get to the point I could use my right side again. Then, I had to reteach myself from the foundation up how to read and to write a second time. Everything that I know I should recall from my time as an employed editor in the 90's was locked behind a wall of damage that I struggle to break down every single day of my life. I also have Dyslexia problems complicated by fine motor skill nerve damage. Do I use these difficulties as a knee jerk excuse for instances of personal, poor writing? THE ANSWER IS HELL NO!

To my way of thinking, real writers strive to overcome their disabilities, not use them as a crutch to languish within their flaws! I bought grammar based books and read them repeatedly to recover my lost knowledge. Due to a little thing called effort, I regained the vast majority of the information I once lost due to a life threatening medical crisis. Therefore, I do not give crackpot reviews whenever I take time to read over and consider the most glaring problems I see within a story's structures. I fine comb everything I write repeatedly to get rid of every flaw before I post anything. Yes, I do miss things, which I correct as I get a chance. A person who reads my work can return seven months later to find a lot of mistakes are corrected. I abuse my edit chapter button every few weeks, based upon the errors I get told about when someone reviews my stories.

Whenever I give a review to someone, I always endeavor to point out the strengths, and the weaknesses of each story I have read. The reviews I give carry my hopes that the input will help complete strangers to revise their stories to add strength to plots and characters that were devised. It is a real insult to all reviewers who give thoughtful feedback when the reviews get deleted by such frauds who pretend to be writers. Very few writers I have personally reviewed have retained my concrit reviews. Those who have kept their reviews, I am grateful to you for doing so. Your strength in keeping my review prevents me from becoming completely sick and tired of the constant flow of disrespect given to those who take reviewing for others seriously.

Put bluntly, I have seen the signs of a real epidemic of fraudulent whiners begging for reviews that are insincere. The ongoing blasphemy of it all has finally tweaked my last nerve. The majority of said frauds beg for reviews in every single chapter's author notes. My conclusion is that such begging for reviews is a form of blatant "stroke my ego or else" guilt tripping. "Please review because I live for reviews," is a blatant lie 9 times out of 10 in my personal experience with giving reviews. That type of bullshit line now reeks of the biggest attention seeking ploy in existence to me, as a reader. In the vast majority of cases I leave very tame comments compared to my actual reactions to such writer's stories. I refrain form taking every single line and pointing out the problems. If the writing is atrocious enough, I am reduced to perhaps you should use your spell/grammar checking features before posting in the future. Getting reduced to such a flippant response really hurts because I would not be writing a review at all if I did not see some kind of merit within the story. I would simply back click and be done with the author, and everything else they may have posted. I do keep a list of the unreadable slobs so I do not have to hurt my eyes by accidentally clicking on anything the royal stink writers have added.

During the last three weeks, after seeing how often that line accompanies a deletion of my reviews, experience tells me to avoid such authors as if they have the Black Plague. To date, seven out of every ten concretely focused reviews were erased because my input was not a fanpoodle. My honor code from my previous career as a "shred the writing to get it corrected in time for the sales team to make a profit from it" variety editor experience does not condone "I love it so keep writing" variety pat upon heads. I do apologize for this being such a tactless tirade. I had to get this off my chest because I am so frustrated with "poor me syndrome" type commentaries.

[Dream Interpretation]

"Urges such as sex, that frighten us, or we have been taught to be ashamed of, may appear as devils or demons in your dreams. You may have felt a lot of affection from a cat, and so associate it with sensual, or even sexual pleasure. It can also represent your need to care for someone or be cared for, to have close physical contact. For some people a cat is a substitute baby, it can therefore depict the strong maternal feelings and desires. Or a male cat can represent male sex drive. The term 'catty' refers to a spiteful woman. So if the cat in your dream is angry it might depict yourself if female, or feelings about a female friend. Because cats are independent and often alone, they may represent the secret part of yourself, or independence"

A: First of all, the vast majority of compiled dream interpretation books have tons of bunk you need to wade through if you wish to truly unravel a nightmare that is recurring. I put the garbage part of your interpretation that your dream does not reflect in italics for a reason. Few dreams with cats in them have jack to do with sex drives to be be blunt. Find a Jungian dream interpreter if you wish to get a somewhat valid interpretation of the layers this dream contains. Jung gave multiple archetype information to insure correct ability to interpret many diverse meanings for symbolism that dreams contain.Jung drew from a lot of cultural similarities found in myths and other aspects of the common people, not a couple neurotic aristocrats. Speaking from a fair amount of experience with dream interpretation in old college course that I can still dredge up mentally, my advice is to dump the online dream analysis program you used to try to unravel this dream.

The cat's reactions gives the main clues that you have a very strong subconscious desire to change. Most often this is a desire to go from the state of being used and abused, to a more balanced state of standing up for yourself. Cats actively reflect internal conflicts with one's internal stubbornness most often, not repressed sexuality. I think you read a dream archetype book from a Freudian psychologist because it reads like the bunk Freud used to spout after watching over 5 deeply depressed aristocratic ladies who were prisoners in gilded cages their aristocrat husbands provided. Freud did little interacting with regular society to come up with his everything is sexual sin foundations for modern psychology.

Although pursuit and fleeing an unseen evil does on occasion have validity as avoidance issues, or seeking of an unattainable feeling desire, it can also be internal subconscious pressures completely unrelated to such concepts.

Running from evil can be about suppressed anger that you refuse to unleash on the deserving party who has caused said dark emotions. However, a number of other interpretations seem to apply to your specific images. Evil does not always mean "live." Evil can actively mean that you feel a sense of lost personal control over your own body. Evil is also a reflection of feeling stepped upon by others when one does not know how to set appropriate boundaries with others. Hence, in this aspect, evil is the self destructive tendency that you are afraid to release because of social pressure to be a good area rug for more abusive individuals. Evil in this sense is society's rules, not living your life as per the bunk you were reading, SereneLies.

Furthermore, one aspect this interpretation forgot to factor is the aspect of getting ostracized by society when one refuses to go along with socially expected norms. In this instance, the terror felt as you sit upon your bed, equals a fear of becoming unacceptable by standing up for yourself. The bed is a foundation of guilt in this instance because the image clearly reflects a sense of guilt within the foundation of your personal experience. Again, Freud morons always associate a bed as being sexual, while Jung described it as a foundational belief gained from specific society expectations imbued since our earliest memories were formed as children. Anyway, I think this dream is a reflection of your desire to change your lifestyle, yet having a powerful anxiety that in changing your responses, you will become an outcast.