Liek omg, hihihihihihihi.
I didn't necessarily wanna burden myself with another return speech, so I figured I'd start anew with a new account on FF.net. If anyone's interested in seeing my previous works under my previous name, it's The Arbiter, so if you wish, FF.net has a nifty feature here called "Search", where it can be used to find any sort of story or author on this site. I bother to remind everyone because if my experience on message boards has taught me anything, it's that nobody ever uses the Search feature. And I don't put The Arbiter on my favorite author's listing because well... to put myself as my own favorite would be conceited. Although I could probably get away with being my own favorite author because a lot of the stories here still probably suck and authors here don't use their full writing potential... or something.
So I'm gonna do something I've never done on my other account: tell you about myself. I am an Airman in the United States Air Force. That says enough about my lifestyle already, but a lot of my interests include video games, watching movies, using the internet, and in all obviousness, writing.
Update (3/15/07)
I roll with the flamer crowd now, I guess. I finally feel like I'm in somebody's circlejerk instead of just trotting around FF.net like I'm some sort of traveling author trying to capture the attention of the mass audience. Well sure, I'm still trying to do that I suppose. But now I'm with a small group of people that shares my sentiments towards fan fiction. And the insight that I have bestowed upon upcoming authors on this site is beginning to pay off. I've gotten my first real criticism for my stories under this penname. Check out The Balancekeeper for the details.
I don't wanna be the kind of guy who gets irked by a critique, nor do I wanna be the kind of guy who hastily responds with "LIEK OMG U DIDNT REED THRU TEH HOLE FIX U ASS!". Sometimes, you just gotta be one of those guys. I won't be one of those guys to that degree, but writers develop skill over time. This is how I write my stories: I churn out a chapter, I run a spellcheck and do a quick run-through of my chapter, and finally I upload that chapter onto FF.net. Only afterwards do I begin progress on my next chapter. It's just how I choose to present my work, and I don't like to think there's anything wrong with that method. Some people like to write their entire fic, proofread it to the best of their ability, then post in episodes. That way shows consistent skill throughout the entire fic. My method shows that my skills are improving the more I go into my stories. That's how I feel reading and writing should be; the two should be a growing experience. I've come a long way since The Epic Battle.
Will I learn from the mistakes that were pointed out in the review? Most certainly. The trick is applying it in your work. I'm so used to writing in my own style that I will make the same mistakes I've been making from day one while I try to apply the lessons I learn through criticism. Writing habits are just like other habits; once they're formed, they're not easily broken. But if I can make an honest attempt to make things right in my fics for the future, so can anyone else who takes heat for their stories.
Update (3/10/07)
If you care to notice, my favorite author's list has just quadrupled. Not necessarily because they're fantastic authors (I'll be the judge of that should I choose to read their official works. One of them makes this easier due to not having any fics to read in the first place), but they have messages in which FF.net needs to hear. It is painfully obvious that I am a very not recognized individual here, but those who do give me a chance (hopefully) see that I have a plethora of messages to preach to the online community. So the gameplan is to keep an eye out for those elusive individuals who care to advise the overall community in regards to what they're doing wrong.
These people come in two flavors. Critics and Flamers. Both styles will be showcased in my Favorite Author's list in addition to authors that I deem to be good writers of pieces that I will actually read. The distinction between Critics and Flamers isn't always so distinguishable, but our reality is about 90 of what we percieve. I know, I know... 90 of all my statistics are pulled out of my ass, so you can easily tell that this statistic is full of shit. Regardless, I'm putting my faith in you, the individual who dares to check out my bio page, hoping that you can tell the difference between criticism and flames.
But why do I have both styles on my FA list? Generally because they end up preaching the same messages. These two types of reviewers are infinitely more likely to tell an author how it is instead of sugar-coating their messages and hope author and reviewer can 69 afterwards. This makes me feel secure in knowing that I'm not the only person on FF.net that actually tries to push up and coming writers to actually give a damn about their work. Fuck "don't like it, don't read it". I can't unread what I read and there's something about your work that peaked my interest. I'd like to see people try to improve their writing abilities so that it at least looks like they're not trying to rape my eyeballs with their pieces.
Four against the world are shitty odds, but they're still better than one vs. everyone else.
Update (2/22/07)
And now for a little experiment. I've advocated in the past that a strong summary is what grabs a reader's attention here in FF.net. It's apparent to me that my summaries must be weak, or else I'd have more reviews for my stories. So I'm gonna turn it up a bit and return to my roots for a little experiment. Back in the days of The Epic Battle, in addition to adding new chapters to my stories on a frequent basis, I made use of chapter summaries instead of story summaries. I've said before that the summary system sucks balls. Well if I can summarize a story by chapters, there's a lot more potential to catch the eye of possible readers by constantly throwing out chapter-summaries that stand more of a chance of catching your attention than one broad story summary could. Afterall, If I can stretch out a story summary by summarizing each individual chapter (for the sake of arguments, I'll make a theoretical five chapter fic), each summary can be up to 250 characters long in FF.net. What has more of a chance of being a stronger summary and attracting more readers, a 250 character summary or a 1250 character summary? I'm bound to get somebody's attention with this new plan.
Update (2/20/07)
Haven't updated in awhile.
The end.
P.S. I've spent the last couple days watching the entire Rozen Maiden anime series, all two seasons of them. It's a pretty nifty show that has elements of action, comedy, drama, and overall craziness as at numerous moments in the show, I was thinking to myself 'Man, what the fuck am I watching?'. The show is about a boy and his dolls. Seriously. But these dolls are created to fight in a battle called the Alice Game, where the winner becomes this perfect doll by collecting everyone else's Rose Mystica. The series isn't half bad and has stemmed an internet pseudo-phenominon with one character's non-stop use of the japanese word "desu".
Anyways, I liked the series. In fact, I'm probably gonna steal some characters from that show and include them in a new fic I'm probably going to at least make a couple chapters for. The story will be a predominant humor fic with plenty of the action and adventure that makes my stories so awesome to begin with. So this serves as a warning... I have the most wrong sense of humor you'll ever see in a fanfic. Go back to my previous FF.net account, The Arbiter, and check out the last couple chapters of The Epic Battle, a story I've written a good four years ago. My style of humor is still pretty much the same sexual, shit talking, silver tongued, fucked-up-in-the-head humor I've had ever since I first got into fanfiction. Back to the story. It's a concept I've tried twice in the past where my most developed OC, Shrtys the Balancekeeper (definately not going to be a Balancekeeper in this story), gets into some sort of messed up battle, forms a party consisting of characters from video games and anime, and then just does crazy stuff until some kind of final battle with some celebrity in real life whom is the bunt of jokes, but has godly powers because that's how fanfiction rolls. I have to decide if that antagonist is gonna be Michael Jackson, Richard Simmons, Hilary Clinton, or someone else. But man, this'll be crazy, and I'm gonna have so much fun writing this.
Oh, and I haven't forgotten about The Balancekeeper, either.
Update (2/2/07)
Alright, for the five people in all of FF.net's community that checks out my bio page and reads my stories, congratulations. We're now just another fucking clique here. We're just another small group of readers and writers who have walled ourselves off from the rest of the community and are now reading only our stuff and writing for the people in our little circlejerk. But before I'm left eating the bukkake cookie in the center, I've decided to be pissed off about rings of readers in FF.net.
Swing by the General Forums sometime and check out the second most popular forum there. P.S. The forums here still suck balls compared to every single other message board in existence. Anyways, there's always little things that catch everyone's eye, be it the elementary-level summary you give for your fics, what have you. This time around, it's the summary of the boards, where the boardmaster suggests that you "chat up a Katrina-sized storm". Being the raging pseudo-liberal that I am, I take "offense" when people turn a natural disaster into a literary device. Considering all of the fucking sayings you could've used without using Katrina, you have to say the one that opens up emotional scars for the millions of individuals who had their lives screwed up by mother nature. So I decide to make a post about it on their forum and this comes back on my computer screen as of 2/1/07 8:46 PM
"Who the hell are you and why are you making random topics about Hurricane Katrina?"
Random my ass. What better way to "chat up a Katrina sized storm" than to make a topic about Hurricane Katrina? Just fucking great. So in order to have an opinion on the matter on a public message board, I have to be known by every single fucking person who posts there. It's the same wherever I go. Having uber-pro message board skills no longer cuts it on FF.net; I have to win fucking popularity contests before people will acknowledge my posts, my fics, my bio, and anything else I have to say. And it's starting to piss me off.
I don't keep a lot of favorites in my bio because of this. The more favorite authors and stories I have, the more I'm blocking myself off from the rest of the community, who might eventually throw out a story that doesn't shit projectile diarrhea onto my face. The more favorite authors/stories in my collection, the more inclined I'll be to read only my favorites instead of anything else, despite the fact that we're reduced to reading "everything else" before we even have favorites to begin with. I'm just tired of being left with my dick in my hand, especially since I could've easily never returned to FF.net after being gone for five months, but decided to return just because I felt like writing.
Speaking of having my dick in my hand, I was too busy pouring my guts out to a phantom audience that I forgot to nut all over the cookie in the center. Damn!
Update (1/20/07)
I'm back, baby!
I've taken an extended leave of absence because I threw a hissy fit over this community. Prior updates regarding that matter have been removed from this bio page. If you feel as if you're missing anything, here's what you would've read...
"I'm leaving this site because I'm awesome, but nobody reads my shit. Everyone else sucks and they're what's noticed around here."
I never would've contemplated a return if I hadn't received a review a little less than a month ago. A review that most authors here should kill for; an actual critique of a story's chapter in addition to praise. So I let the idea churn in my head for awhile in regards to continuing "The Balancekeeper". I've decided to give it another go. As usual, I don't expect frequent updates on account of me being too lazy to write. C'mon... I always have things going on in my life. I work four days a week and go to school two days. The free time that I am afforded is squandered on message boards and video games.
Am I worried about being overshadowed by garbage again? Yeah, I guess so. It shouldn't be a deterrent to me doing what I want to do, however. I have my fair share of posts on Bungie.net, easily the largest and stupidest collection of Halo 2 fanboys I've ever seen. My opinions are always pushed to the side there, but I still post there like I have something to prove; even after numerous bans and as retards continually not comprehend a single thing I say. I figured I should have that kind of dedication everywhere, but it's a lot easier to post on a forum; it's not so easy when you're creating an epic.
Well, time to crack my knuckles and show you guys what I got... again.
Update (8/24/06)
REMOVED
Update (8/16/06)
REMOVED
Update (8/05/06)
I just put lowering springs on my car. It kicks ass. Figured I'd brag about it to the five people that check out my profile page.
Anyways, on an FF.net related topic, I decided I was gonna start being pissed off about review whores. Particularly the brand that post a fic, then demand in their summary that they get 10+ reviews for chapter one or else they don't upload the next chapter on FF.net. I know it's a significant boost in the size of your e-penis to have a five-chapter fic with 70 reviews, but there's a difference between earing those reviews and demanding reviews out of the fanfiction community. The people that actually earn those shitload of reviews generally have fics that would be best described as "badass" by the community. However, people that demand reviews; their stories tend to suck teh pen0r, leaving the reader with two options: 1) Don't review the piece of shit or 2) Review it and give that particular author more incentive to crank out more eye poison.
This whole rant reinforces my theory that the summary is the deciding factor in the success of the fic. I find that fics with original and interesting themes illustrated in the summary tend to get the most reviews out of the community. That certainly explains why The Balancekeeper managed to get 100+ hits, but only 7 real reviews, 5 of which by the same guy. Seriously, if you were to strip away all the meat and potatoes of the plot in my story, you'd basically whittle it down to "A group of teenagers is all that stands in the way between a group of people and the end of the universe". Seriously, real original and interesting, but you can only really get so original in a predominantly action/adventure fic. But I never had to whore my fic out to anybody. I write my stories because I feel like writing, not to mention I like to write. The bulk of my free time goes into reading and writing nowadays; a title that video games used to hold. And if you write for the sake of writing instead of for the sake of having other people read it, you end up unleashing your imagination and freeing your soul, usually making your fic a good work.
Update (7/31/06)
K, I know that there are a lot of romantic readers and writers here on FF.net that enjoy a quality piece of work that involves two intimate characters fucking each other's brains out, but seriously, look for that kind of stuff in M-rated romance fics. I got a review for The Balancekeeper, asking that a T-rated action fic have "A BBRae lemon in it". I hate the term "lemon". There's nothing sour about a man and a woman riding each other like bucking broncos. If I were responsible for changing fic-based terminology a bit, I'd turn the term "lemon" into what it really is... "fuck fic". Then maybe FF.net's 14 year old fan-base would know exactly where to turn to in order to get their hands on porn so hot since the letter A did reverse cowgirl with F and gave W a facial. And when it's all said and done and you blow your wad on your keyboard, just remember to give your "OMG TAHT WAS GR8 WRITE MORE LOL" review like you always do without letting your mom catch you white handed.
Anyways, I try not to turn my back on people who ask stuff from me. I'm like motherfucking FedEx... I deliver. So without further adeau, Mr/Mrs Sora, here is your request, a BBRae fuck fic:
Beast Boy and Raven had sex. Cyborg watched over a security camera and fapped. The End. Lol
Maybe if I wake up gay, sit on my cable modem, and download Saint H's penis into my ass, I might decide to write a fuck fic for The Balancekeeper. Just don't hold your cock until it's blue in the balls, because putting a sex scene in The Balancekeeper is by no stretch of imagination guaranteed...
Update (7/14/06)
New story's up. Teen Titan fic titled The Balancekeeper. A little author's note would probably be a good idea to make on this story since the concept of the Balancekeeper has essentially been an oldidea that I've been developing in the forms of 1) a successful fic that no longer exists (The Epic Battle: Universal Apocalypse, created by my previous alias The Arbiter), 2) failed fics that no longer exist (And Now For Something Completely Different attempts 1 and 2), and 3) story concepts that never quite got off the ground (Equilibrium). But the grand culmination of all those ideas will finally bear some fruit in this fic. I've been attached to the character Shrtys the Balancekeeper ever since I had the opportunity to create a character for another person's kick-ass action fics. That's over 4 years ago. Obsessed? YA PRLY. Maybe I'll be able to let go of some obsessions once I put everything to paper. Afterall, I've given no thought to a sequel to the TEB series after 4 years.
So anyways, since FF.net's summary system completely fails, I might as well wet some taste buds in here. K. The plot behind The Balancekeeper:
Some time ago, a furious struggle was waged between two forces. One force, a small organization known as The Council of Final Judgement,had been responsible for the creation of the universe and they had aspirations to "scrap it and start over". The other force, the Balancekeeper, had been created by the Council to maintain a proper balance in the universe between good, evil, and neutral, and stood against the Council's decision to push the preverbial reset button on the universe. The battle was waged, but the Balancekeeper was victorious and the universe was spared. 18 years have passed since that battle and the Council of Final Judgement is out to give it another shot. Shrtys received word of this and went on the hunt for the Council to stop them once and for all, but his ship broke down in hyperspace and was forced to crash-land on Earth, or to be more precise, Jump City. Immediately, Shrtys needs to repair his ship, but little does he know that the Council is preparing for all-out war here on Earth. More drama takes place when Raven learns of one of Shrtys' previous campaigns, and let's just say that Trigon wasn't the only person to decimate Azarath, but a Chaos Angel was involved as well. Seems pretty cut and dry until Starfire learns of a different campaign, where a Chaos Angel is the reason Tameran still exists today. And this Chaos Angel bears a name; Shrtys. In a war between good and evil where nothing is as it seems where everything is on the line, the Titans are caught in the crossfire.
Update (7/9/06)
Haven't been here in forever. I might read a couple Teen Titan fics and forget about this place for a couple months. Anyways, my self-induced ADD is kinda fading away now that I can drive, but I still need to put a lot of focus back into my life. The thing is I have a lot of priorities to worry about, but as of late I've been doing a real good job of keeping my eyes on the prize. In fact, I'm impressing myself so much that I almost considered trying to make another story here. But more on that another time. I'm not about to go getting married to my estranged belief that I can actually write a story to it's end.
Update (3/28/06)
REMOVED
Update (1/7/06)
I'm officially back in the game, folks. Hours ago, I posted Animorphs on this site under the Crossovers Section. Aside from a few errors that could've been rectified by proper proofreading instead of just running spellcheck, it owns. So read it.
Alright. Remember my last update? You should, because it's directly under this update. I've taken a little bit of backlash from my review from two authors (the one who originally wrote the retirement speech and her friend.) Ever since that little trade-off of misunderstandings and clashing viewpoints, I've decided to adopt a motto for use in FF.net that goes a little something like this:
"Flamers gonna flame and ravers gonna rave.
But someone gonna come along and give it to you straight."
I'm in no authority to stop everyone's ridiculous parroting in the reviews for each story on this site. There's nothing like checking out a story under the Humor genre and keeping a plain face throughout the whole fic. And then it clicked... the fic isn't supposed to be funny, it's the reviews! I mean, I find it hysterical when I stumble upon an unfunny humor fic, then check out the reviews, and instead of finding "Where's the funny?", I see review after review of "LOLOLOLOLOLOL". Is my genetic make-up lacking something that finds the hilarity in all of these "funny" fics, or are these reviewers just giving author's blind praise. It's not my place to decide, but it sure as hell looks like blind praise when I check out humor fics that are funny for everyone except me, or if I check out something that everyone hails as "the best fic ever" and I can't figure out why. That brings me to another point. How can every fucking fic you guys review always be "the best fic ever"? Can't only one fic be the best fic? If you are guilty of the crime, stop sugar-coating your reviews. I'd accept ten reviews for Animorphs that would tell me everything that's wrong with my fic instead of a hundred "best fic ever" reviews, although the latter option would certainly give me a raging boner.
Update (1/1/06)
Happy New Year. K, that's enough of that...
I'm nearing completion of the first chapter of the fic of my choosing, and I guaran-damn-tee that you'll be pleased with the results. Hell, I could read through what I have finished so far and I would jizz myself ala Scary Movie, lololololololol. Of course, the real surprise will be which one I decide to unleash upon FF.net, however, for the zero people that have checked out my bio page only. Everyone else... couldn't give two shits.
And now for a little something else. Another thing I like to share about myself is that I am very outspoken about certain topics. I came across a "fic" on this site in the Teen Titans section. Fic in quotes because it was less of a story and more of a ridiculous retirement speech due to the fact that some people apparently don't like certain character pairings in stories, games, shows, and the like. Now, due to the fact that I've reported the "story", it would be a waste of my efforts to give a link to the story through my bio or even my response to his/her psychobabble, but my response was this in a nutshell:
"You're gonna put an end to your writing career on FF.net because you're a Robin/Raven author and the vast minority of your particular audience hates that pairing?"
This is why people commit suicide in the world people. People aren't firm enough to realize that opinions that differ from your outlook on things doesn't mean that you should curl up in the fetal position and chant "Woe is me" until you undergo complete emofication and start getting urges to play your wrists like a violin using a box cutter. I take a lot of heat from the things I do and the sides I take in regards to certain issues, but I keep my feet on the ground and I refuse to budge for no one, unless they miraculously manage to change my opinion with something entirely legit, such as straight facts or an intelligent opinion. What I'm trying to tell you, I suppose, is get some fortitude and press forward. As that saying goes "Chicks dig a guy with a pair of balls".
So yeah. You stay classy now.
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