pippychick

Do we have any members from Scotland? Looks like everyone is panicking since a recent poll showed the Yes campaign is finally in the lead, though I can't say I blame you Scotland. If wonderful, unwaveringly socialist Scotland leaves the union, what happens with the rest of us? Will it be a permanent tory government, or will something have to give? I'm not sure, but I don't think it's going to be very pretty. The TUC secretary or someone was just warning everyone about the re-emergence of a Downton Abbey style society here, before the BBC News channel cut her off in order to tell us about the Duchess of Cambridge being pregnant again. You couldn't make it up. I wonder if we'll go back to the days of the industrial north against the well-to-do south? Minus the actual industries, of course. I still can't blame you if you leave. *sighs* Where's that website gone that was all about Independence for Yorkshire...? Hmm... perhaps we could team up with Wales...

I'm really, so sorry, pittwitch

Was stumbling around the internet and came across this via a blog that I follow: Start Writing Fiction It's run by the Open University. Not only is it free, it appears there are no country restrictions. The course starts in October.

Done... and tweeted, and retweeted a bit by others.

I'm really, terribly sorry for your losses, DemonGoddess and BronxWench. I am glad the hospice helped you out with it all though. It does get easier eventually, and I know that phrase gets thrown around a lot, but that doesn't make it any less true. I speak from experience. All of their good things still live on in you, and they don't fade. Regarding the article (which is briliant, btw): I just wanted to say that it is now a proven fact that dogs have mirror neurons too. It must be why we two species' get along so well. Mine have been sticking to me like velcro for the last day or two. I'd like to think it's because they care, and not because they're just waiting for me to have that one big accident that will mean they can eat me. Actually, now I've said that it is kind of suspicious that the greyhound hasn't been eating her breakfast... like she's holding out for something better... Back to the topic, after reading what you wrote, I'm sure that whatever field you go into will benefit from having you involved in it. I've always thought a well-developed sense of empathy is one of the markers of a truly civilised and healthy society. It's important for everyone.

Seeing how they thought it was a good idea to move the start menu, the x button and hide the control panel (which, when you finally find it, doesn't have a 'classic view' or Win7 option), I am surprised they didn't decide that a qwerty keyboard was too much, and randomly assign letters to different keys. Yesterday, I managed to accidentally 'close' the desktop, and ended up stuck in an application that I couldn't escape. Or maybe they just wanted to make it simple, because Ctrl Atl Del is now the answer to almost everything, just as long as you don't want to actually do anything. Suddenly very easy to find a DOS Prompt though... it's like they're daring you to Format c: Well, I had better get some sleep since I work early.

Windows 8 is a pile of cat sick. In fact, I don't think I even want to get used to this. So much so that I'm going to use my old machine to practice installing Linux so that I can stay away from Microsoft altogether, for the rest of my life. And I still have to sort this new computer out. I was looking at bathroom cabinets earlier, so now I'm going to spend the next decade getting them advertised at me everywhere I go, just in case I haven't bought one yet, or want to furnish my whole house with them or something. *sighs*

Thanks for the recommendation, BW... I'll go and try it out now

Mini rant ahead... I like MS Word, I do. I've used it for years and years, and years. I know how to use it, and what all the buttons do. But now it's over. I'm getting a new computer, but I won't be getting Word with it this time because as much as I like it and am used to it, it's not worth a recurring subscription that I'll already be paying over the odds for because I happen to live in the UK instead of the US. Bollocks to you, Microsoft. To be honest anyway, that last version I bought always took bloody ages to start. Incidentally, I took to Google to find other people just as pissed off (like you do) and perhaps in my anger I'm not doing it right but I didn't come upon them right away. They must be out there. It's just a word processor ffs, not a mortgage. There are, of course, certain conditions under which I'd go for a subscription. Say for instance, if it had a kind of new-fangled mind-reading hardware attachment that would sense my half-formed ideas and produce a nice tidy document using my words without me having to think them up. If it could peer into my dreams so that I'd have a nice account of them waiting for me when I woke up. If taking me "where you want today" meant getting hold of a car and driving me to my work/appointment/course. If it could do those things without passing my details onto the NSA (actually, I have no idea if MS does this, but nothing would surprise me, and while I don't really give a toss if "they" know what I had for breakfast on the tenth of May 1997 there some kind of yammering about principles and such). I've put back the new pc to monday, so I'll be trying out openoffice and libre office over the weekend to see which one I like best. In other news, I voted Green and have somehow ended up with a UKIP councillor in my ward, which means that I don't have a councillor, because I don't care what happens to me, I will not talk to fascists about anything. And there's one in the ward next door to the east. And the one next door to the north. Seriously, I live alongside a load of racist, bigoted bastards. I always suspected as much, but it's kind of disquieting to find out for real. We're honestly thinking about moving somewhere else. Let's be clear, this is a political party who want a flat rate of tax for everyone, billionaire's included. The end of the NHS. Charges for GP appointments. Forced sterilisation of the mentally ill. Whose members hold views like the following: * Being gay is "abnormal and undesirable" and not to be "celebrated" * homosexuality is "not a lifestyle worthy of valid equal respect" * women are to blame for rape as they lead men on * seal clubbing is a good thing, because seals are "dumb" * climate change is a myth * women should not wear trousers * women cannot be raped by their husbands I could go on and on, but I'll let you imagine the kind of things they say about race (clue: it doesn't get any better). Anyway, that's all I have at the moment.

I have to admit, you do have some fantastically scary crazy right-wingers in the US. It's the one part religion in the recipe that does it.

So yesterday I went into town to pick up a hedgetrimmer, and it was only when I was already on the way there - on the bus - that I found out some far right group here in the UK was planning some kind of street protest/march/riot. Obviously, an indication of how much attention I pay to twitter lately, since I follow a lot of anti-fascist accounts which would no doubt have warned me had I but looked. A thousand police officers on the streets of a small town is a strange thing to behold. I was in and out of there before I could see any of the other racist thugs, aka as the English Defence League. No need to ask why Rotherham. It's a mixed community of white and asian british. The mood of the locals was basically pissed off at having their town invaded for the day. One woman running a WildAid badge stall was assured by the staff at Superdrug that she and her dog could go into the shop for safety. On the bus waiting to leave the bus station, I saw them gathering, and I'll be honest - I could have gone my whole life without seeing that and been happier for it. Load of fascist c***s. And yes, it frightens me, with good reason. If UKIP have any parliamentary success whatsoever, they'll be teaming up with the likes of the EDL and the BNP before anyone has the chance to blink, and what then? Especially if socialist Scotland leaves us? If the election in 2015 is another historic "undecided" result like before? Combined with the weakened left and the idiotic complacency (silent support?) of the establishment... well... I know there are a lot of ifs, but there seem to be an awful lot of things converging in the not-too-distant future. It could well be the makings of a perfect storm. I make no predictions, but I feel a very singular sense of dread when I think forward to the election in 2020. I hope I'm wrong. I laugh at UKIP along with the rest, but they aren't really funny. Not at all.

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it too, Melrick. I thought the prompts were blindingly obvious, but they were fun to work with.

Cool idea! Dear sixteen-year-old me, Do everything exactly the way you're going to do it, because if you don't, I won't exist. You're going to lose some really important people who you love. Be brave, and remember that other people make their own choices. There'll be hideous amounts of soul-destroying pain. Be strong, even when you despair. Enjoy Damien in every single way you possibly can, over and over again. In years to come, you won't regret anything. Remember than when you're uncertain. Love, Your thirty-seven-year-old self

Hello Annie Angel, As one of the moderators, I am very sorry you feel this way about AFF, and that you find the Terms of Service too restrictive to continue posting here. As you are aware from previous correspondence, AFF does not allow Fanmake/Read the Book stories, and does not allow author's notes in the place of chapters. The Terms of Service have been carefully put together to ensure the best protection is in place for authors, readers, the site administrators, and last but not least the original creators (without whom we would not have fanfiction). This site is closely monitored and moderated to ensure adherence to those Terms of Service for the benefit of everyone. If at some point in the future you feel able to abide by those few simple guidelines, then I hope you will post here again. Thank you, Dafdes

Aww...

lol... And then... I looked further up this thread. Blackadder erotica! Erm... slight thread hijack... /thread hijack Sorry about that.

From BronxWench on 'The New Cut' Thank you! I've got to admit, something about this one bothered me, and after a week I still couldn't put my finger on it so I gave in. But, everyone seems to like it, so maybe I'm just imagining things. Eventually, I might write something that isn't centred on a pub...

Pen Name: Pippychick Story Link: The New Cut Review Replies: Original Stories Review Responses Prompts Used: Three elements: An antique quilt, a green candle, a cedar chest. Type of Fic: ShortStory Rating: SFW Fandom: Fairy Tales, Fables, Folklore, Legends, and Myth > Folklore Warnings: AFFO,ChallengeFic,COMPLETE,NoSex,OC,Oneshot,Violence

I'll just add my adoration of Stephen King to this thread, and add a little to say I prefer his horror novels to his thrillers. I can't remember the first one I read. My mother says I was a strange baby, and that it was almost as if I could sing before I could talk, and read before I could walk. My Dad was a horror and sci-fi fan, and despite his best efforts, as a kid I did get my hands on his books now and again. Favourites: definitely The Stand, IT, The Tommyknockers (and I know not everyone likes that one), Insomnia was pretty good, and the collaborations with Straub. Anyone who writes should read On Writing. It's one of the best books of it's type I've come across.

What an arrogant statement! You do realise that DG doesn't get paid, don't you? I mean... this isn't a business. Lazy? Lazy would mean no AFF at all. The archive exists because DG devotes a huge amount of personal time and effort so that we all have somewhere to post our stories, and to read those of others.