Nephylim

What a question to ask a lady...what?... Oh... oh right... I'm not a lady so that's okay then. Hmmmm.... how could I choose? I don't think would be fair to choose... so all those interested form an orderly queue and I'll get to you all by the end of the week Of course I have my own particular views as to who I would like to be at the head of the queue... and if they were then I might not actually get to the rest of you but I'd mean well

Okay... I have a new crush *blush* Not that I am letting go of my other ones... I mean love is love and crush is crush... but I am feeling kind of squishy and giggly and flirty and bashful at the moment... going gooey whenever I see someone's. name... so that's a crush right? Well... either that or something I ate today was bad And NO WAY am I going to tell you who it is. Actually I was thinking after I posted last time... if we are talking normal crushes, rather than total make a fool of yourself crush... there really aren't that many people on here that I don't have a crush on. You just have to see what a tart I am in chat to realise that.

You'd be surprised what I'd do for one weekend if the reward was worth it. Fair does though... if you're taken, you're taken. Still love the photo

Damn competition... and you have something I haven't got

Not that I'm aware of. I mean my stories always have a lot going on... there is always so much more than boy meet boy and falls in love. Hmm... erm I think I have multiple plots as opposed to sub plots although... IDK In Death is Not and Option it starts focussing on one thing... then another deeper plot is revealed... then you have other characters exploring that and bringing out new information on it... which I suppose could be considered to be a sub plot even though it is actually feeding into the main plot.... then the plot subtly changes... then changes completely... then goes back to the first one with new characters introduced and built up half way leaving others behind. Actually there are more offshoot plots than main plot hehe. A tangle of underbrush. I don't deliberately set out to make subplots I just tell the story as it comes to me. I think I have said it before, many times that I never craft a story, never write plans or plots or think about where this or that is going I just sit down and write. In that I am not really a writer at all I am a storyteller pure and simple. If I get depth and clever plotlines and arcs etc in my stories it's purely by accident. I suspect that if I ever went to a writing class I would have them tearing out their hair... far too organic

Gods dammit girl you are HOT. Are you sure you're straight because I'm not doing anything next weekend and we could go for a.... swim Bald men are supposed to be sexy... in the interests of research you should sure put up a picture.

Are you insane? Not that I'd say no of course but still... Phew I have so many crushes it's untrue... but there's only one I'm half in love with... apart from Rush of course who I am totally in love with and engaged to

That's awesome. I am far too lazy to do that. I just pick names I like

Yeah I cry over roadkill too. *hugs*

I have to admit I am a read the last page person too. I have no issue with main characters being killed off if the story is improved by it but I do need to know that there is resolution for some of the tension that builds up in the book if it's any good. I do sometimes have a hard time reading serialised stories on GA but that's all part of the excitement. As for chat... who knows *shrugs* Group politics, bitching and paranoia happen... then they change and fade and happen again.. it's life

1941 isn't that far away. There was a war going on. There were all sorts of issues to deal with economically and there was still enough repression to make it difficult to be a 16 year old anywhere. Consider this... the Victorians were the most sexually and socially repressed people ever... yet in private they indulged in debauchery like you wouldn't believe. The point being that the more prim you are on the outside the more rebellious and creative you are on the inside... and that inside comes out in private.... what's more private than your journal. As far as the 1940isms are concerned I have learned that if you write a story that goes too intensely into things that are difficult to read (in my case an irish accent in this case 1940's speak and detail) then it puts people off so what is needed is exactly what Mark was talking about above and what he has done... and that is to give a flavour of what you are trying to convey, enouh to make it different and understandably set where you want it to be, rather than being a slave to the detail. As long as there are not any absolutely glaring anachronisms it's fine by me.

That is really good to hear hun... there's hope, at least for some

Gee thanks I'm telling Cia Seriously thought... I think you're quite right. I can't honestly say that I have ever seen anyone being picked on or excluded or made to feel unwelcome. Sure there are snipes, and bitches and rants... but that's life. I think to some extent you find what you are looking for.

Thanks so much everyone. I think my daughter is awesome. She is so passionate about everything. I'm very proud of her and grateful for all the help you are giving her. You guys are fabulous

Okay... I think I have added all the different options suggested.... and I hope that everyone can access now. Whew this has been a real techno lesson for me. I had no idea there were different ways of saving a document Thanks everyone.

I respect you for at least trying and for being honest. I have to admit to being uncomfortable with the way you've expressed it but I think perhaps the discomfort is just that no one really wants to hear uncomfortable truths. OUCH I'll be on your team any time Lugh... why do you think I like it so much in chat. I can always be sure of being jumped as soon as I walk throgh the door if you're there and it's the only action i get so I'm pathetically grateful I have the dame overwhelming and unhealthy desire to know what's going on but I suppose I just have to squirm and satisfy myself with conjecture. Me too hun There is always someone who will give you a gentle nudge if you are going too far... and if under 18's want to chat with adults then they can expect some potty talk. It's no different in chat than anywhere else people get together. It's a matter of discernment and degree. I agree... it would be funny. Hehe.... why would you say no? I completely agree about parental controls. It would make a nonsense of what the site is all about... a safe place. It wouldn't be safe if someone needed permission to come in. Adusted and in control of your emotions? Bugger From my own point of view I have never had the slightest problem with chat. From the first moment I entered I have been treated with nothing but respect. Yes I noticed that there were some people who were on a lot and knew each other well... leadin to 'in talk' that I didn't always understand. Having said that there are a lot of conversations I don't understand (mainly those involving technology) so it never bothered. me. I don't know what happened that was so bad it got chat withdrawn but I have to say that, apart from the odd bit of sniping here and there I have never seen anything bad. Maybe that's because I look at the world through rose tinted glasses and didn't want to see it but I honestly have never seen anything that made me uncomfortable. The thing is... in ANY group of people there will be cliques, politics and assholes. There will be people who speak their mind and people who won't like it. There will be people who look for reasons to take offence and will always find them. There will be people who are sensitive and people who are thick skinned. There will be people who go too far and there will be people who don't go far enough. It's life. Maybe we should just stop being so senstivie about it. If you can't take the heat keep out of the kitchen and if someone is flaming stick them in solitary until they cool down. There is no way that chat can be policed so that there is never anyone overstepping the line. I think what's important that everyone knows there is a line and for everyone to take responsibility for pulling someone back if they step over it... no matter who they are. I personally hope that chat will come back becuse I have had some great times in there.

Hun... I truly appreciate the comment but you may as well be speaking Chinese. Could you explain, as if to a ten year old... no ten year olds know more about computers than me... make that a five year old

Part of what she wants to do is to compare the position in other jurisdictions so anyone from anywhere would be most welcome. Thanks loads hun.

My Daughter is in her final year of a law degree. She is gay and very passionate about gay rights. As part of her degree she is doing a dissertation on how gay rights have/haven't been reconised and protected in the law, particuarly with reagrd to recent changes. She has devised a questionnaire which she would very much like to be distributed as widely as possible and responded to by as many people as possible. The questionnaire can be completed annonymously although it would help considerably if you put down what country you are from as clearly it will affect the research. The questionnaire is geared toward English law but response from anyone would be greatly appreciated. My daughter's email address is in the questionnaire for responding. Thank you so much to anyone who helps I have now attached the document in all the different ways suggested (I hope)

Awww I had a Sebastian and I was really fond of him... he was a sweetheart. I did call him Bas through most of the story though

Welcome Ira and your English looks pretty damn good so far. You may well find that you speak more betterer that what us native speakers do I think he's supposed to be a ninja... when you're being sneaky. Of course once you put him in then everyone knows you are being sneaky

Use a hose I sympathise with your tshirt problem... I suffer from the same malady except it is not limited to white tshirts in my case. Welcome to GA from a fellow technoboobie. Hey hun. You can't possibly be intimidated by us... we're too fuzzy. At least that's one word you could use to describe... at least a couple of us Hey Daisy nice to meet you. Shame on you for slacking As a grad student you should be in love with the work . I'm sure that you are usually such and angel like me I completely agree that the are addictive and should carry a health warning. However you should pick and choose carefully or you will end up failing class and being blue On the whole though this place is Although I don't know what you mean about the smilies as I never use them myself (BTW had to remove loads of smileys because the nasty man wouldn't let me post them... apparently there's a limit)

It depends is the answer to this one. Most of my male characters are beautiful and extraordinary in one way or another for three reasons. One they are my fantasy men and it excites me to write about them, two because it is pure escapism and I think that people looking for escapism are not looking for acne and bad teeth, they are looking for someone they can drool over, and thirdly I generally write the description of the character through the eyes of their love interest so of course they are going to be beautiful to them otherwise why bother? I tend to put a bit of ordinariness in most of my characters... except the ones I REALLY drool over or if there is another compelling reason (for example Daniel in DL who was deliberately written to be the me I have always wanted to be... he even has my hair ; or the angels in my angel stories) All my characters have flaws but they are different according to the character. Sometimes it is a temper, sometimes a weakness, sometimes a naivety ... to the point of stupidity on occasion. But someone who is totally beautiful and entirely flawless on the inside and the outside is nothing more than a characature and no one at all is going to relate to them.

What's in a name? Everything for me. I just can't realate to a character who has a crap name. And no, I won't give examples in case anyone has written them into their stories and gets offended. I ALWAYS use names I like for charactes I like although I might dip into the realm of the dismal for villains or peripherals. Although I think so far that I have actually used liked names for everyone.

I agree with Lacey that people are hot headed and impulsive and very little is really worth dying for. So I think that duelling should be made legal but the choice of weapons should be limited to celery, cucumber or throwing radish. It would then be less likely to end in death