NightScribe

Yup, Big Sam, I've got to agree with you there. And like horrorgal, I've left a bad review or two and the stories have disappeared. Strange thing is, usually, my gut instinct was telling me that they were kids. I don't know, maybe saying in my review "you write like you're 12, are you really old enough to be on this site?" scares the bejesus out of them (because they are 12) and they bolt. For me anyway, I just get a feeling for people who are posers and think "hey this is easy" and do it for a lark, and those who really want to write and improve. I'll leave concrit for the latter, but not in a mean spirit. The punks, well, that's another story.....

Doesn't Lycra have a bit of give? Microfiber/Lycra blend, perhaps? (Are we thinking waaay too much about this?)

I can't remember the name of the stuff, but it's very, very soft, more like embroidery thread. Of course, one could always line the cozy with a nice piece of silk! Because you have a filthy mind, Nanaea (I know this because I thought the same thing!) I'm picturing a nice emerald and silver job, with silver silk lining.

ROFL!!! Blinky!

*snicker* Do I have enough yarn? Better buy another skein...*checking against hand* Length, good...width, very good Oops, that smiley connotes something I didn't necessarily intend it to!

ARGH!!!! Three words, EveKnight....BlackRosePhantom (or BRP) in the PotO fandom!!! Guilty of exactly what you're talking about, yeesh. Some of those reviews were just her fantasies and it's like WTF???

I feel so damn lucky with my WIP. My other lengthy fics rarely got reviews (something I bitched about once or twice) but this one seems to have people interested. One person always comments on each chapter and it's so satisfying to know that they've actually read it and certain things strike them enough to mention them. I have had "can't wait for next update" or "hope you update soon", from other people, but it's always the capper to some other comment. But if I had the reviews you do Pix, that would drive me f*ckin' nuts as well. Face it, you like to torture them for their impudence! When I finish a story, I always update my summary with "Completed", but because of the way I'll be ending this fic, I'll definitely be putting ~~~END~~~ at the bottom of the last chapter, just to ward off any of those "update soon" requests. I was posting the first six chapters pretty quick, one a week, but in my profile (which people probably don't even read), I say that the story is still a WIP and that updates may slow down, but gave them something of a time frame, three weeks max between chapters. That way, they know I haven't stopped and I keep myself to a reasonable deadline.

Knit one, purl two...knit one, purl two....you'll be warm and toasty in no time redsliver

Reminds me of a fic I wrote where a character suggested someone knit him a "cock cozy'.

I still watch reruns of "Are You Being Served?" and I've seen every episode a billion times. I love "South Park" some of those episodes are instant classics. Madapple, I, too, enjoy "Keeping Up Appearances" (poor Richard!) and Leno's Headline bit. I also like BBC America's "Wire in the Blood", but they only have like 6 episodes a season. Something about that Robson Green I like.

I agree with you; they are trying to oppress the people. They keep whittling away at the first amendment, along with a few others, and it makes me sick. I'm all for protecting children from predators, but it seems like out of desperation, they're casting a huge net and anyone else who gets scooped up in it, gets punished. It's bull. How about finding a way to bring the troops home? What about education, affordable housing, health care, social security, and the deficit? These politicians are so sleazy, not to mention hypocritical. They either talk about the terrorist threat (like Bush anytime there's some new scandal) or we must protect children from obscenity and predators. Fear mongering and, unfortunately, most Americans don't employ any critical thinking and ask pointed questions or engage in debate, they just keep on with their lemming act. Grab your inner tubes and life vests, folks, just in case you get shoved off the cliff into the sea with the pablum eating sheep.

A large cup of coffee when I first woke up around 7:45. Now, I'm having green tea and a Raisin Bran breakfast bar.

I think it depends on one's definition of "foreplay." If it's strictly gential stimulation, not to mention a younger man, sure. But keep in mind that touching, massage, talking "dirty," a striptease or slowly undressing, the use of toys (man using on partner in het situations) can be considered foreplay (at least to my mind). They're all part of the wonderful arousal process. Adara, don't sweat the issue of your female characters having inhibitions. I think the more you write, the more comfortable you'll get and really start to stretch. I'm on my eighth fic and I'm writing things that I wouldn't have dreamed of at the beginning (I figure this will be my last fic for a while, so I'm going for broke! ) As for my female characters, I've had some who knew what they wanted, and others who were shy and inexperienced. May I suggest that you let your character's personalities dictate their behavior. And you could always have one of those shy, submissive types turn animal once that older, experienced man gets his hands on her!

Depends on the story and the characters. I wrote one where there was heavy, unresolved tension that was never consummated; it worked for that particular fic, (IMHO). However, I did cheat, with a little bit of fantasizing on the gent's part. One series of fics I did, the characters were longtime lovers who had a long distance relationship, so they could be tear off the clothes in one scene, and engage in languid, slow paced foreplay the next. I think I tend to use the latter the most; anticipation is so agonizingly sweet.

I tend to use ellipsis a lot, especially to indicate pauses in dialogue, or when a character is interrupted while speaking, or there is overlapping conversation. Also, if a character's thoughts are kind of bouncing to and fro. I never space those pesky little dots. I guess that's my bad. *shrug*. I was also taught to never begin a sentence with "And" unless it's dialogue, and I do follow that, but I tend to break the rules all the time, 'cause deep down, I want to be a rebel. Without a clue.

Big Sam, have you been reading my mind? And btw, I believe a little madness can be a good thing. Especially when dealing with this group! Cheers to AFF and its members of the lunatic fringe!

This is going to sound awful, but I really do hope that Dumbledore is really dead. If he "pulls a Gandolf" I'll be so disappointed. I'm holding on to the hope that Dumbledore had been mentoring and grooming Snape all these years to do something spectacular and/or noble. I noticed that the youngins on some of the HP sites want him back; they seem to forget that the portraits in the headmasters office can interact with living people.

HBO On Demand has a behind the scenes thing; that may be what Nekkid linked. If I may digress, I pay for my freaking cable (including HBO) and that OotP thing does not show up on the menu. I'm so disgusted. Anyhoo...I watched it on YouTube. Occlumency lessons, can't wait to see in the final flick. And Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix looks completely insane (in other words, perfect). I'm looking forward to this one; the darker the better!

Damn woman, where've you been? Good to see you're still with us! Knowing you, I'm sure you're busy writing some dementedly twisted Snarry torture fic. hee hee. I myself am getting into the meat of an incest fic at the moment. Maybe when I'm finished with it, seeing as how I'll have no fresh ideas for a fic, I'll do parodies of key scenes, but write them in more "modern speak." That would be a hoot.

While watching Gof recently on cable, something struck me; one of those random observations you might not catch right away. When Harry's name comes out of the goblet, he's walking up to the front of the room and passes Snape. The two briefly look at each other, then Harry walks on. Later, when the teachers are arguing over whether Harry should compete, Snape basically says, yeah, it's strange, but let things play out and Dumbledore agrees. Since book 5 was already out when they made Gof, did anyone stop to consider that when Harry passed by Snape, a little legilimency was employed? Snape knew Harry didn't put his name in the goblet and advised Dumbledore; that's why Albus agreed to Snape's suggestion. Also, on the PoA DVD, J.K. herself was sitting with the director, and said that he foreshadowed things that would happen in later books. The big thing for me was this: In the book, Snape was still unconscious when Lupin transformed into a werewolf, but in the film, he wasn't and didn't hesitate to physically put himself between Lupin and the kids. Does that give a hint as to what may happen in book 7? (I've seen this theory floating around on some HP sites). Was the screenplay written that way, or did the director change it? Hmmm. And while watching SS last night, I finally caught that the mirror of Erised is the mirror of desire (spelled backwards). Am I the last dope in the world to finally notice that? D'oh! As far as book 6, I'm convinced that the overheard conversation between Snape and Dumbledore was Snape saying, "look, dude, I'm willing to take a bullet for you. I'll break the Unbreakable Vow. I'm not gonna kill you." "Severus, dude, no way. I'm getting too old for this shit. You're a kick ass wizard and I'll have your back from the after-life. You gotta save that Malfoy kid and help out Harry." Not eloquent, I know, but I'm convinced that's what went down. I hate having to wait to see if I'm right or way off base.

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick! WTF???? Uh, hey, guys, when the hell did we start living in a fascist nation? Huh? Huh? (I think it was 2000, how 'bout you?) I sure hope that vet finds a lawyer who'll take his case pro bono, just on principle.

I know exactly what you mean, pix. There were books we had to read in school and I just couldn't get into them or didn't "get" them. I kind of blame some of the teachers for that. Just saying "read chapters 4 thru 7" and giving a quiz isn't really teaching, you know? Sophomore year in high school, I gave up on "Tale of Two Cities" really fast. A couple of years after graduating, there was a great Masterpiece Theatre mini-series; I couldn't wait for the end, so I ran out and bought the book and ending up really liking it. Freakin' public school teachers!

The Misfortunes of Virture by Sade. I first read it years ago, but I'm finding I appreciate it more this time around having become more..."seasoned." And by seasoned, I just mean older, wiser, experienced more of life. A couple of decades can do that.

Seeing as how I read the first five books in a marathon reading session the week before HBP came out, by the time I got to it, my brain was a bit mushy. And I'm the first to admit that I'm a selective kind of gal with what appeals to me in the books and what doesn't. Voldemort's past/lineage? Don't care. Horcruxes, boring as hell, even though I know they're important. (Have you seen the fanbrat sites that discuss whether Harry is actually a horcrux? Yeesh.) I grew rather weary of the hook-ups and I'm sorry I just don't see Harry and Ginny together. As for Snape, I have to agree with poly; he was proud of his pure-blood side and don't forget, Voldemort is half-blood, too, but a self-loathing one; explains why he wants to kill Muggles, other than the fact that he's a sociopath. Maybe I'm imagining this (I'll have to read it again) but wasn't there something in HBP about the more you split your soul, the more dangerous it becomes? That anyone who did do it, would only do it once, but since Voldemort is so far off the deep end, he went with seven (the magical number thingy). What I did like about book six were the darker angles. Spinner's End, the sectumsempra, the inferi and Draco realizing he's not the coldblooded bastard that his delectable father is. Now that I think about it, I have to agree; there was an awful lot crammed into that book, a lot to process. I think I've read someplace that the horcrux thing came about later, that J.K. thought of them after she'd written a few books. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. I'm really hoping that the seventh book doesn't suck. I'm concerned of it being a huge let-down. I'd love to see Lucius pull a Shawshank and bust out of prison and poly here's how I would deal with Snape's fate. Ready? Snape helps Harry to defeat Voldemort and both survive. The Ministry recognizes that Snape was a good guy all along, he's awarded the Order of Merlin, first class and becomes the new headmaster of Hogwarts. Harry tries to be an Auror, but hates the bureaucratic bullshit, so he accepts the DADA position that Severus extends. Snape tells him that he'd like to be to Harry what Dumbledore was to him as a young man/teacher; a mentor and friend, it's the best way to honor Albus' memory. (I was actually going to write that in a fic that I've abandoned, but there you have it. Sappy, I know, but what the hell, why not?).

The degree vs no degree. I've had discussions about that, too. I didn't go to college, but I was lucky enough to enter the work force at a time when you could still get an ok job without one and move up by having common sense, adaptability and a good work ethic. At my current job, we hire a lot of new college grads and some of them are so lacking in common sense and are such slackers, it blows my mind. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying an education isn't important and valuable, and not every young person is a useless layabout. I shudder to think how difficult it will be for me when I have to find another job. No degree? Well, we've got an entry level position you can have.... Argh!!