Thorn Wilde

Yeah, I think we're the opposite. I'm a lot more of a masochist than boyfriend is a sadist. But we can experiment.

He's not entirely averse to the idea. I mean, spanking is a thing that has happened.

Something with which I have far too little experience, but would very much like to get better acquainted with...

It occurs to me that I should probably at some point answer the question. I almost always comment, but sometimes I just don't have the energy or the will to do so. Simple as that. If I'm reading a completed story I'll comment on the chapters where I have something to say. I know how good it feels to receive the kind of validation that a comment can bring (us writers are vain creatures, aren't we? ) so if I can possibly think of something to say, I generally will. But again, sometimes I just don't have the energy to engage, so I stick with leaving reactions. I know others do the same, and I think that's fair.

On occasion, yeah. Snuggles help.

Hah! That's how I ended up on Topix back in the day. Can't remember what it was, but someone made such a stupid comment I just had to reply. Met a bunch of cool people on there, too, but quit posting eventually. /off topic

Enjoy your wine, A! I’m heading to bed in a minute. Goodnight, all!

This is what I did as well. Introduced myself on the forums, joined in many topics, got to know people, made a discussion thread for my first story, and the readers came. Not saying it would work for anyone, but it did work for me. I love that show so much. SO much. Never bothered trying to watch the American one, I would have just tried to compare the two. Same. Well, ArchiveOfOurOwn in my case, I prefer it to FanFiction.net, but that’s where I primarily post my fanfic. I post some of it here as well, as some people do read it, but I don’t expect to get the comments and likes here that I do there. Different audiences.

So puppy’s back. So far so good. We’ve got the weekend ahead of us before I really have to do much about it. Glad boyfriend’s here so I don’t have to handle this all by myself...

That's.... super irresponsible for people to give a kid books with such adult themes. Children and adults are freaked out by completely different things. Scary books for kids generally isn't a problem, but adult novels with things that kids can't begin to understand, that can be seriously damaging.

Ugh, puppy always pulls at the leash when I walk her. Again, it's the small dog thing. A big dog you'd train out of that behaviour immediately. Small dog, people don't bother. It's sad.

He didn't want me to use his name. We'll think of something eventually. This is exactly the problem, yes. I mean, she has tried to train her, but puppy gets away with stuff no big dog would ever get away with. People think it's okay because 'oh, it's such a little dog!' but that just isn't how it works. It's doubly important, I think, to be strict with a small dog. Puppy thinks he's the alpha in our pack, and that's just not right. The humans have to be the alphas.

It's not my dog, and I really don't have enough surplus energy to do it. I've been the strict one the whole time, but it doesn't help much when flatmate is such a pushover. We've tried crate training, we've tried leaving her in the bedroom by herself for a couple of hours every day, and she's pretty quiet when we're at home, but she can tell when we're not. Flatmate even got a puppy cam with a speaker so she can talk to her via and app on her phone. It spits out treats, too. Hasn't changed anything, but then flatmate hasn't really been consistent either. It's very frustrating, and it's tough having to babysit someone else's pet all day when I'm home, though the alternative is much worse, having her bark in her room all day. Might get easier now that boyfriend is here. He has more experience with dogs.

While I understand your frustration, it often takes a little while for new authors to get much attention. There are a lot of good, quality stories here. Interacting with the community helps (something I see you haven't really done). I know the feeling of not getting any comments at all and it sucks. I have a couple of poems right now that I'm really happy with but which no one's bothered to comment on, and it can be disheartening. But stick with it. Don't give up after just a couple of chapters. Also, like Carlos says, a lot of those reads may be from readers off site, who can't like or comment.

Morning, DiC! Ear hurts less today. Yay! So yesterday flatmate's mum said she couldn't keep puppy, cause it was too stressful. So puppy's coming back this afternoon. It's been less than two weeks of wonderful quiet... Flatmate's looking into rehoming her now, permanently if need be. I feel bad for her, but I feel worse for puppy.

This ear really hurts a lot. Think it’s my sinuses. Gonna try and sleep anyway. Goodnight, DiC!

Oh, I am not a fan of sappy romance in general. I mean, it has its place and I do write sweet moments between my characters, but some of my favourite things I’ve ever written have romances devoid of sap and full of passion and conflict. This is why I don’t write weddings. They get too sappy. Yeah, I’m a hippie. Violence is almost always presented negatively in my stories.

The good news is that boyfriend is much better. The bad news is that I now have an ear ache. Not sure how I’m gonna be able to sleep tonight...

I was going to say this too. I’m more the show the bully the error of his ways through love kind of person. Violence begets violence and so on. Same. Tragedies are great. I mean, most of my stories have happy endings of one kind or another, but boy do I put my guys through hell to get there.

Not saying they can't have happy endings or anything. Definitely, let there be hope. I just want it to be realistic. And in my experience happy, well-adjusted people are not realistic. We all have issues, we're all flawed. Overcoming challenges is good, it's part of life. But reading about a perfect person inevitably overcoming challenges I just isn't interesting. As for the tropes you mention, I've read (and written) a lot of YA novels and teen romance stories that have none of those things. Make of that what you will.

I dunno, I've read some teen romance that was very gritty and realistic. And when I write that sort of thing it tends to involve bullying, dysfunctional families, and so on, and I work hard to make my teen characters behave like teens, speak like teens, and screw up like teens. What you describe can happen in any genre, especially romance in general, and is invariably boring. Well adjusted 'normal' people are boring. Stories where everything goes right for the characters are boring. The best characters are flawed and dysfunctional, IMO, and that goes for every genre. Those are the characters I write and like to read about, and they turn up in plenty of YA fiction and teen romances. Some people write stories about the way they wish it was. Others write about how it actually is.

This is beautiful and very peaceful, at the same time as I find it sort of melancholy. Moments I'll recall as I lay dying... They seem so fleeting and temporary.

Hey everybody! How are you all this afternoon? (For most of you; it’s evening here.) Welcome, new person! I look forward to getting to know you.

Aww, that's adorable, tim! Lol Morning, DiC. Hope everyone's well today. I got my laptop back from service yesterday, so I no longer have to work from my iPad! Yay!

Goodnight, tim. I’m off to bed as well. Boyfriend is requesting my presence. Goodnight, DiC!