Citrinin

Now that you mention it, so did I! :D I remember taking stacks of paper and drawing for hours. My mum would get angry whenever I messed up a drawing, because I would scrunch up the entire piece of paper. She'd be like, "Just try again on the other side!". xD

(No problem. ;P)

Well, what was something you enjoyed doing as a child that you don't do anymore?

You mean you don't eat candy and cookies anymore? D:

You'll just have to tell them it was necessary as you loaned them to your large-footed friend D:

Well, in that case, let's take the time to change that and actually talk. XD We've been on each other's friends list since before you left, so I have no idea why we never really did so.

As for the bit about you being too nice in your reviews, I get the feeling I was high or something when I was writing that VM. Looking back over your reviews, I'm just seeing that you're straightforward. Sometimes, you're a bit vague (like here, you don't really explain what you mean by clichés "taking a bit away from your writing"), but other than that, I honestly can't remember what I was talking about there.

Also, "constructive praise" sums it up pretty nicely.

Concerning your edit, don't feel guilty because if it wasn't just me being paranoid, there's nothing that you could have possibly done to change things. People came to your story because you had a good thing going on that appealed to them, and these people, for whatever reason, had this tendency to stick to a handful of fics because they considered those writers friends. I mean, Eliminator's got a point: if they liked them, then of course they have every right to praise you for it. Yet, even then, they just had a tendency to ignore any other writer that came in and put a lot of hard work into what they were doing. (It even got to the point where some people have told me that they didn't want to come to PC because it had that closed atmosphere.)

While I've been told that this kind of behavior was just running rampant around the PFF for far longer, the period I'm referring to was also the time that the FFL was starting to turn into a place where people held conversations that they really should have been holding via VM, which in turn caused the FFL to become more closed than it really has been in awhile. (We all were at fault for this one, so don't worry about it. Point is there is that we're burying the past as much as humanly possible in order to make FF&W awesome now. Or, at least, I really, really hope we are.)

What I meant by that VM (and I really should actually read what I write via profile because it always comes off as assy and public) was that you were incredibly popular with these kinds of people. These kinds of people were also, as of late, pretty inactive in the FF&W, which was fine by me because of the entire "let's get everything set up and fixed so that the forums become more active and open" shindig going on. My main worry, then, was that people would try to bring back that old mentality via your thread because they'd be excited to see a prominent member of the old PFF, not that HWIMAR itself was the reason why good authors who weren't in the FFL were getting shut out.

In other words, yeah, don't feel too guilty. It's not so much the fic as it is potentially the people following it.

There really needs to be a massive thread that discusses the entire constructive praise concept in Writer's Lounge, but the problem is, I have no idea how many people would actually look at it. (There's actually a funny story involving announcements, stickies, and PMR that makes me say this, but I think one unnecessarily long story is enough for a single VM.)

It was the high point of my childhood. xD

That's exactly what I mean, but whatever. XD

lol. I try.The key of improving is recognizing flaws or having someone else recognize them. :D

Awesomeeeeeeee ^^

Will your school mind if they have gaping holes in the front of them?

...can I at least keep your shoes?

I need to interact with the community more. If I want to improve in my writings, I have to help people improve in theirs too. It's not a one way street anymore. ;p

...can I at least still be a ninja?

Alright then. Responded. :D

Maybe I just have big feet for a raccoon O:

..or, maybe you just have smaller feet than a raccoon?

They're a tad too small ;-;

Admittedly, yeah, one of the things I frequently do in conversations outside of a fic thread is apologize. With you, it's because I like you. I think you're a sweet kid, and it's always refreshing to see someone who understands what a review is supposed to be. All around, you're a decent person, but we don't talk that often. Because we don't, I end up feeling guilty because you are a pretty interesting person (and, on top of that, HWIMAR has a really interesting concept going for it with a pretty cool cast of characters, if I'm remembering the original correctly), but I feel like I have to be harsh with you because you're too nice (in your reviews) or because it seems like no one else will. The latter is just a little sad in my view because you do want to improve. It's just people either aren't trained to do it (as you've said), or, in a worse-case scenario, people shy away from it because you're you and because you have a reputation/you've made friends with a lot of people around the forum.

But thanks. I'll keep that in mind and apologize less frequently in the future. XD

That being said, you've got a point about how it's not that easy to review, especially in terms of grammar. (This is why I'll probably have to back off of the point about how one of your reviewers was afraid to actually get in there and review grammatically.) On the other hand, it's also possible to leave a positive review that still points out specifics in a story. It can be done just as easily as, "Your story's pretty sweet. I especially liked that ninja guy at the end. The way he came out of nowhere and stabbed that syringe in that cloaked guy's neck was really cool. I can't wait to see what else he does and what other characters come along." Brief, to-the-point, and it says something about the fic.

That's actually most of why I got so frustrated -- because your readers seemed so focused on the fact that you're back to say something about the story itself. You're a decent enough guy to take it anyway, but it just seems sad that they could only say a sentence or two about what they thought of your story itself. (The grammatical review was borderline all right in terms of doing this because it pointed out a specific part of your story, but even then, it sort of feels like the reader just skimmed it and threw out a half-hearted attempt at finding something to talk about.)

Thanks for the compliments, by the way, and don't be too afraid to drop something off on AEM. On the other hand, don't feel obligated to do it, either. XD

(Which reminds me that I need to fix a whole host of grammatical glitches myself. And maybe take out something that's been bothering people.)

No, silly. Just the laces. But I put new ones in them.

I did, however have to cut holes in the toes :/

Oh. Good point, I forgot about yours xD

They're lovely, btw.

Ah, I see. Sorry about that.

As for the asterisks, yeah, I can see how they'd be jarring. I tend to read with the understanding that I'm just taking on a story, personally, which is probably what allows me to be harsh when I need to be, so maybe that's why it's never really bothered me that much.

Speaking of which, I'll have to apologize if any part of my review came off as unnecessarily snarky. I'd hate to say this, but while I have no problem with you, your readers piss me off. Quite obviously. I mean, you missed a lot while you were gone, but the entire Project Max Revive was an effort to get people to become decent reviewers -- not only in terms of "guys, we need to review every goddamn story we can get our hands on" but also in terms of just general quality. Which "OMG YOU'RE BACK THIS IS AN EPIC STORY" in a couple of lines really isn't.

In short, again, no problems with you personally. I'm just facepalming because what your readers are doing represent exactly what PMR was trying to get to stop so that the people who weren't a part of the FFL might actually feel welcome enough to post their work.

(And that's the end of that rant.)

HAOJHIUSGUDSIFUGSIA

A little of both what? :O