JX Valentine

And thank you for your compliments. :) I've also found it a shame that we don't talk all that often; you are a supremely interesting and knowledgeable person that I can get a lot from speaking to. Some things I just feel smarter for reading, and your comments often fall into that category. :)

Although, the bit about me being too nice in my reviews - what exactly do you mean by this? I usually try to put things in a nice way so as not to discourage the author, but I always try to pick at every flaw that I can. (The exception being, of course, when the fic is poorly structured, which makes it too difficult for me to write a full review.)

I'll keep that in mind about the specifics reviewing - constructive praise, I suppose you could term it.

EDIT: I just saw your VM to Astinus in which you were worried that I might bring back some of the former clique-y atmosphere by posting HWIMAR. (I don't usually read others' VMs, just I was viewing Astinus's profile and the mention of my name drew my eye.) Did I really contribute to that? o.o; Obviously we all played our part in the FFL, but did the existence of my fic really go even further to destroy good authors' chances of getting reviews? I'd feel quite guilty if that were true... :S

Fair enough. :)

In defence of my readers, sometimes it's difficult to say where someone's gone wrong. You've mastered reviewing like I didn't know was possible (and I love reading your reviews so I can learn how to improve my own), but I guess it's not always easy.

For everything you've taught me, for example, I would love to be able to repay you by reviewing AEM. But honestly, I don't know how to review a fic that I find so immensely good.

I feel like you say this to me a lot. I realise that while you may come off as snarky, it's not out of malice, but a desire to make people better. It's what you do, if they'll listen. Heck - even if you did have problems with me personally, ripping my fic apart is still incredibly useful for my quality as a writer. :) I guess I should make a declaration valid for all eternity: I don't take anything you say about what I produce, whether it be a review, a story, or a piece of advice, personally. :D

Jax, Card is playing really bad music on his forums. It nearly killed me. ;-;

I wanna say yes to that thread idea, because it will be a new shiny idea and apparently all hope for my section hasn't died. On the other hand, we're talking about the people who want emblems. idk. Kill my hope please.

Also, my man asked me out this morning. I turned him down so I could read more Card books. I... I think I have a problem. :( I didn't tell him the exact reason, but that was it.

Also also, I do recommend that how-to-science-fiction book. It's got a whole chapter in there about space travel! And typos! :D Plus a fantasy reference guide to fantasy kind of written by Terry Brooks, but his name is in tiny font on the cover, while Card's is huge.

I think you may have misunderstood me. I was trying to point out that you weren't being hypocritical, not that reviewers should focus on things that writers have no control over.

I must say I agree, although for a different reason. While profanity doesn't bother me in and of itself, the asterisks do. (Of course, like I said, this doesn't imply an fault on the writer's part.) I guess it's just because asterisks are a reminder that I'm reading a story, as opposed to being immersed in it.

I suppose the difference in your brand of pickiness versus that brand is that yours is focused on the things that the writers can control.

I suppose another way around it in some cases is to say that a character swears, without explicitly revealing the swearword. "John swore under his breath" and the like.

True. I guess the other place it can make a difference is if it's used amongst a fic generally without profanity for effect, the stars can also be jarring.

I suppose it raises an interesting question of whether we should be allowed to evade censors in fics. While I certainly see the justification for a censor in general, it does hurt a few stories. Of course, acting on it is a case of taking the ought rather than the is.

You're welcome. :) Naturally, I realise that constructive criticism is not only not an insult, but healthy and beneficial. In this case, you curbed an inciting of rule-breaking. :3

I guessed that there was some kind of implicit allowance for it, given that we're allowed to post material up to R.

However, your point is taken; without an explicit exception, it's not safe to assume that. I've removed it from my post.

I've also lost my appetite due to the heat. ;;

But yeah, I've been trying to drink water and pure orange juice all day. :3

Yup. I mean today I've been feeling like I can hardly move due to tiredness. xD;

Oh yeah, do you have MSN? :D

Ooh good luck with that! :D I'm okay, just really tired. I was up at 5am today due to dehydration (summer sucks..). It's now 7:11pm. I'm going to bed extra early to fix my sleep pattern. ~

Awwh thanks! :D

Heh. :3

How are you? ~

I like your avatar. :D

You know what would help with activity?

[css-span="text-decoration: blink;"]EMBLEMS.[/css-span]

Oh no. Wait. That would just stop activity. :D I'll never forget that.

Also I'm reading Card's books on writing. I'm almost done with The Writer's Digest Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Keeper of Dreams is the one I bought today. I skipped out into the parking lot. My man's all like "Okay, fine, I'll go with you to look for his books", and I was only over in the Card section for a few seconds. I was going to warn this poor boy what happens when he asks me my thoughts on Andrew Wiggin, but...

Didn't we try that? With this? The new version has a slight change, no? Where the most recent person only has to review the previous story, not #20 has to review #1-19. Or the previous five stories? (idk. I wandered away to read a Card book while writing this paragraph. I got a new one today! And brought the one I'm reading on an outing with my man. Because that's how I roll.)

Also, the new general manager of my store is wondering why morale is so low in the employees. I just went ":|" when I heard that.

"Digimon Adventure 02 doesn't have plot holes! Just seven plot ideas that didn't get explored! But Digimon Frontier is bad because I say so!"

Yeah, I somewhat expected a test drive so I made sure I gave it my best shot. Hopefully I can get into it before summer ends and I have to move back to Florida.

I went into this greek place the other day and they were like "can you be here in an hour?" I was like "uh sure!" I worked all night, got awesome tips, but at the end of the day I was put on this waiting list of sorts incase their other workers don't work out. o_O

Hahahahaha.

And congratulations on graduation, on the other end, I'm too looking for a job and a college. XD; And the hunt is pretty brutal, isn't it? :(

I've been doin' all right, getting ready for a beach trip Thursday. (don't know how I give my love for the beach away, really)

How about you? We haven't talked in ages guurl. XD

why hello there resident koala

That's understandable.