requiem. / Comments

@ Tickle Me Sara
LOL it accepted!

@ ladyschrei
It wouldn't surprise me either. But I hope they were telling the truth.

Mibba isn;t letting me accept your friend request right now but I accept!

Really? I didn't hear of that. Though it wouldn't surprise me if they said one thing and then changed it around, or said one thing just to trick the viewers.

@ ladyschrei
Oh yeah I knew about those! The writers always said that there isnt going to be a twin in the show.

Continuing from my blog. In the books, it turns out that Ali had a twin sister, Courtney, who was insane and forced Ali to switch places with her, that way Ali got sent to Radley and Courtney stayed behind posing as her. Also, Ali turns out to be Spencer's step-sister, I can't remember if Jason is her step-brother or not. But anyway, so my theory is that in the show, A is either Jason or Courtney/the real Ali, and that the Ali they're with now could be Courtney. Did that all make sense? Lol.

@ CoolStory.Lynn
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Thanks for clearing that up! =) It's something I've always been curious about.

@ Haylie Jaed
Yeah, slight surprises are okay, but we wouldn't say Veronica's pregnant in one chapter without talking about it first, y'know? And yeah, it's nice to have someone to bounce ideas back and forth with!

I rec'd your story in my latest blog!! :)

Ha ha! You don't sound cocky. You sound confident. =) Let it show!

Ooh, I see. So you don't just throw things at each other and hope for the best. =P But sometimes it happens anyway. I love that! When I first started writing, I used to seriously wing it - try to surprise myself as much as my readers, y'know? I never wanted to know what was going to happen next until I actually wrote it.

I wrote myself into so many corners it wasn't funny. =| But hey, at least it only took you a week to recover. As well as being great entertainment (for both the two of you and your readers) it sounds like a great writing exercise, too. I imagine there would be some things that would take you away from your plans, or out of your comfort zone, and that's awesome. =P

@ Haylie Jaed
I think so too, but I don't want to sound too cocky. They might have to make a new title past 50k words for me. LOL

And thanks! We always text each other beforehand to make sure the situation is okay and neither throw out huge curveballs you know? But like in chapter 15, I had no clue Matt was going to blow up like that. That's why it took me a week to write my chapter afterwards.

Very true. =) Something tells me you're going to be one of the highest.

I was never really a Disney Channel fan. I preferred Cartoon Network. D= On the flip side, I really love Disney movies. ^_^

The wraps and salads look delicious. XD They were popular while I was working there too, but they were new, so. Maybe it was just that they were new that made them popular.

Ooh, I getcha. I think that would be a fun way to write. But I'd always be worried that the second writer would write something so unpredictable that I wouldn't know how to continue. XD I admire you for always knowing exactly where to go! It makes things really exciting. ^_^

@ Haylie Jaed
Well, the numbers can only go up from here!

Cadet Kelly is a favorite of mine from the old Disney channel era. Haha

Yeah, we have the mcdouble too! Definitely not those wraps, though! The salads neither.

We have a main outline for the plot and things we wanted to accomplish. But yeah, she writes hers, I read and vice versa. It's really unpredictable with us so we always surprise each other with our chapters. Lol

Hours later, I'm still at 400 - but at least the number hasn't gone down!

Ha ha! I'm actually a little scared of kids so young. I've never really dealt with them, so when I do, I feel like I'm going to break them or something. =| It's terrible. I'm glad you enjoy it, though. =) If there's one thing the world needs, it's more people in child care.

Yep, never seen that movie. =P Might have to give it a watch!

Ugh, I hate planes flying over my house, so I can't imagine having to deal with them flying so low. >.< Getting stuff for free would be cool, though! And God yes, guys in uniform. XD I have a thing for guys in tuxedos, but uniforms are a close second. XD

We have frappés and Filet o' Fish, but none of those other things! We have a McDouble, but it doesn't have bacon - it's like a cheeseburger with an extra slice of meat. We have different sorts of salads - Warm Chicken Salad and Crunchy Noodle Salad, and we have different wraps, like Honey Soy Chicken, Chicken Aoili, and Sweet Chilli Chicken. I guess some of those might be different?

Of course I know Pete Wentz. =P I was obsessed with Fall Out Boy as a teenager. My first band fiction was actually a Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance story. It was horrible. XD

Co-writing has always confused me. Like, how do you do it? Do you write a chapter, your co-writer reads it and adds to it, and you just keep going like that? I guess you'd have a main plot worked out together, but everything else just made up as you go? Or do you plan everything out together and work through it like that? If that makes sense.

That's the best way to talk about stories - as if they're real. ^_^ It just makes everything all the more fun!

@ Haylie Jaed
Yes, 400!! WOOO!!!

And thanks!

No, no. *shakes head* I don't do tweens. I really do enjoy babysitting though. It's fun.

YOU DON'T KNOW CADET KELLY? THE DISNEY CHANNEL MOVIE? GASP. THIS is Cadet Kelly, played by Hilary Duff! OMFG I thought everyone saw that movie! But yeah, it's just a regular city where the military just so happens to be stationed. My friends move around the country a lot, for those reasons. So one month they're in school, the next month they're in Texas or something.

Miliary people get discounts on EVERYTHING here and sometimes free! I wish I had a military ID LOL. Sometimes it's annoying and scary. Jets and helicopters constantly fly over my house. They fly so low and they're so loud, I think they're going to crash in my living room or something haha. And I love guys in uniforms... But I have no clue how they wear it in the heat!

It's so good! It's like peaches with vanilla yogurt or something inside! We also had strawberries & cream! And they always have the holiday pie around Christmas time, which is like a funfetti pie! That's my favorite one! Hm.... do you guys have frappes? Fish filets? Bacon mcdoubles? The fruit & yogurt salad? i don't know what would seem uncommon over there haha. That'd be awesome! There's a McLobster somewhere in the world, but it sounds gross! OH, WE HAD CHICKEN WINGS AT ONE POINT EARLIER THIS YEAR.

I've not read those! But I will write them down for the next time I book shop! Well, I'm sure you know Pete Wentz right? Famous bassist for Fall Out Boy?

I usually read for inspiration. And sometimes when you can't write, just read. That's sometimes the best. I don't really copy or get influenced by other authors' work, it's more like... sizing them up? Like, I'll read their story and ask myself what I can do to be better haha.

I really like co-writing. You should see our text messages. We talk about the story like it's REAL. Haha

Today I was like, "What should we get Matt for his birthday?"

And Nisha's like, "When does her cast come off?"

It's so great.

Yeah, that's true. Today I'm sitting on about 400 words, so. I'm getting there. 10k! =O You're on a serious roll! That's awesome! =D

Well, I hope you get accepted. =) It would be fun.

Ah, only young kids. XD For some reason I pictured tweens. And it's amazing, isn't it? The things that you end up doing, that you never thought you would? Then you can look back in years and say, "Wow, where did that come from?" It's great. =)

I don't know what Cadet Kelly is. o.o But that sounds cool, just a normal town - but with a higher rate of people wanting to go into the military, by the sounds of things. Thanks for educating me. =P I feel a little less stupid when it comes to this matter now!

Peaches and cream pie!? =O Noo, we don't have that! The only pie we sell is Apple Pie. And that McGriddle sounds awesome. ^_^ You're making me hungry for McDonald's now! And that's a rare thing for me, because I haven't eaten McDonald's in a year and a half, so I thought I had the cravings beat. =P I wish they'd make a website or something where we could compare the menus all over the world. How cool would that be?

That made me laugh, because I actually really love dystopian fiction. =P But then, I just finished the second book in "The Maze Runner" trilogy, and it bored me to tears. I liked The Hunger Games for the most part, but the end was highly disappointing - especially with the love triangle. Katniss absolutely picked the wrong guy, and for the worst reasons, too. <_< But I agree, "Go Ask Alice" is one of my favourite reads. Along with that, I really like "Jay's Journal" (also by anonymous) and "She Said Yes" by Misty Bernall. Have you read either of them? Highly recommended!

I'll need to check these books and authors out. I'm always on the lookout for more reading material. ^_^

Mm, that's not a bad idea. I'm always scared that other people's writing styles will influence my own and then my story won't flow, but I guess you don't have that problem? Your work is pretty consistent. =P Even with a co-writer!

@ Haylie Jaed
At least you liked 100 out of 1k words! And thanks, I've just hit the 10k mark!

That seems easy. I may not even get accepted. -shrugs- It's just a website, my feelings won't be hurt. Lol

I used to dislike kids, but I've come to love them now. I do housekeeping for one lady once a week, I came from her house about two hours ago. Her husband's in the Navy & they don't have any kids. If someone had told me I'd be cleaning houses and babysitting say, 2 months ago, I'd have looked at them like they were crazy! But here I am, doing it! I haven't had any bad kids yet and I hope I never do. The youngest I watch is 21 months old and the oldest is 3. So they're not army brats like people think haha. They're not old enough to understand what their parents do yet. They're just regular babies/toddlers.

And it's a regular city, just mostly populated by people in the military. We've got the largest Navy base in the world and an air force base. A lot of my friends are going into the military after they graduate this year and when they graduate next year, if they're juniors. That seems to be everyone's Plan A here. There's a select few that want to go to college. Everyone else just think it's a free ride and super easy to get into the military, which it's not. Anyway, not going into that otherwise I'll rant forever. The military kids go to the same public schools as us! It's not like Cadet Kelly LOL

McGriddles are fuckin' awesome! They're breakfast sandwiches. The "buns" are actually mini pancakes. You can get sausage or bacon, with eggs and/or cheese! They're so good! Right now, I'm eating a peaches & cream pie from mcdonalds. Do you guys have those? McDonald's is like my second home. I go there almost every other day. LOL

And I understand. I can read some "realistic fantasy" books, but not over the top stuff, you know? I really hated The Hunger Games. I actually pretty much hate any book about dystopian societies and other futuristic ideas. I like a bit of historical fiction, too.

Hm, I've never heard of that book. I like too many novels, really. I've always loved "Go Ask Alice". It's a favorite of mine. Hm... Right now, I'm reading a book called "Wicked Sweet". It's an easy read. I like memoirs and crime novels. I've yet to finish reading "Gray" by Pete Wentz. It's an awesome memoir, but a bit depressing to read and I struggle to read it 'cause I don't want to go back there, y'know? It gives extreme feels.

I've got a ton of crime novels that I've yet to read, and my mom just keeps buying me more every time she sees one. Tami Hoag is one of my favorite authors. She writes great mystery/crime/thriller books.

And thanks! I still can't remember how exactly I even came up with the idea for Fight or Flight haha. That's horrible that that happened to you, though. My works' never been stolen as far as I know. Someone could have easily taken it and put it for antoher fandom, but I hope that hasn't happened. :/

Sometimes I will read other people's work when I write my stories just to see how they describe things, the narrator's tone, language/vocabulary, stuff like that.

I don't mind essay-length comments. ^_^

Sometimes that works for me, too - stepping away from the computer and writing on paper instead. But this time around it just isn't working. Sometimes switching to different stories helps too, but not at the moment. =/ It's like after I finished NaNoWriMo last year, I just...couldn't write anymore. I hate everything that I write. For example, today I wrote maybe 1,000 words - but I hate everything except around 100 words at the moment. A whole day, and 100 decent words. I'm still hoping for more, but we'll see how we go.

Good luck with the write-a-thon, then! =) I know you'll manage. I was considered doing JulNoWriMo next month, so maybe I'll save my writing craziness for then. XD Already at 7k! You're definitely going to hit your mark! =O

As a story editor, you have two main jobs. The first is approving pending books - so you have to make sure the submitted books are actually published works, make sure their details are correct, make sure that the summary is the submitter's original work and they haven't copied and pasted it from somewhere else, and then make sure that the book hasn't already been published to the books section. The second job is, obviously, story editing. A lot of people seem to think that we're beta-readers - that we edit spelling, grammar, etc. in chapters, but that's not true. Basically, when you go to the "New Story" page - where you submit the title, rating, genre, short and long summary, etc., that's what we have access to. So our job is to make sure the titles are correct (right spelling, correct grammar, punctuation and capitalisation, no tags or decorations in the titles), make sure the ratings are right, make sure the story's in the right category (fan fiction, original fiction, true story), make sure short and long summaries are grammatically correct and have correct spelling. Ah... That's about it, I think. If we see stories that have reeeeeeally bad grammatical errors or structure (like block paragraphs), we report them to the admins. We also watch out for things that aren't really stories, and one-shot collections (which aren't allowed). That about sums it up.

It's not as interesting as people might think, but I like giving back to Mibba.

I've always disliked kids, but I'd like to have my own someday. It's great that you're loving the work so much. Do you get any really naughty kids? =P Do you think military kids would be different to non-military kids, too? I'm not all that familiar with military towns, so I don't know if the kids would go to military school or if it's just like any other town, but populated by army families? (Wow, I sound so ignorant right now, sorry.) But definitely, being able to go home without those kids would be great! XD

Um... Well, I know that in the States, McDonald's sells things that we don't. I have no idea what a McGriddle is, but my friend seems to order it all the time. We often sell a burger called the McOz (it has beetroot on it!), and I think that's mostly an Aussie thing? But for the most part, I think the menu's the same.

I like realistic fiction, but my heart will always lie with paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi. I like a combination of the two - realistic fantasy? Does that make sense? Like, I want fantasy elements, but I want to be able to believe that it's real. My favourite series at the moment is the Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer, which revolves around four brothers able to control the elements (earth, air, fire and water). At the same time, it deals with everyday issues - bullying in schools, the loss of parents, one of the brothers is dealing with his sexuality, another is dealing with having to be a parent to the other three brothers. I don't like things that focus only on the fantasy elements. If there's nothing realistic, it drives me crazy. How can you relate if there's nothing to relate to?

What are some of your favourite YA novels? Personally I really liked "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman, and I'm really excited that they're making it a movie. ^_^

I get that about A7X fiction. I feel the same way. When I write it, it's like... I'm in a different world, and I have these five amazing friends. And yeah, that makes sense - wanting to keep your fan fictions original. =) I know most people don't understand it ("It's fan fiction. It can't be original!"), but I do. It's actually what drew me to "Fight or Flight" - it's original! Because who wants to read the same thing over and over? Boring.

Most of the stuff I read is strictly A7X on here, too. If I'm already subscribed to an original fiction, then I'm also reading that, but mostly A7X. I get like that when I start to write my own stuff - I don't want other people's work to influence me, so I stop reading anything new. o.o I got really iffy when I was writing my fan fiction "Lost", because I read an original fiction on Wattpad that had a lost of the same sorts of scenes that I was planning on writing, and I didn't want that author to feel like I was stealing her ideas. =/ (Alternately, by avoiding other A7X stories on here, I almost missed somebody else potentially stealing my work - I had one of my readers point a story out to me that had some serious coincidences.)

Am I the only one who has this problem? =P

@ Haylie Jaed
I've found that sometimes I know exactly what scene/chapter I want to write but I just stare at a blank document. If I don't start typing within an hour, I grab my writing notebook and a pen and write there. I don't know why, but sometimes my brain gets stuck at the computer but will spew out a whole chapter on paper. Once I get a page or two filled in the notebook and a good rhythm going, I transfer the words from the notebook to the document and continue. It works for me.

I joined the write-a-thon because I feel like it should be easy. I have like 4 stories and some requested one-shots that I need to complete, so it should be no problem at all. Right now I'm a little over 7k words. My goal is ink slinger (20k) but at this rate, I might end up being a literary genius LOL.

And I applied to be a story editor, but Idk. Maybe I'm not "qualified" enough. I think my responses were too short. What do you really do as a story editor?

I live in a military town, so I'm babysitting for all military families right now. They're the ones with the money, for the most part haha. I would love to be a nanny. I've only been doing this for a month, but I fell in love with the kids and everything. Like, I can't wait to have kids now, but I'm glad I can go home at the end of the day without them. LOL

My first pet was an orange goldfish that I bought for like $7 from Petco. Do you guys sell different Mcdonald's items that aren't sold here in America? I know some countries do.

I want to do realistic fiction. I was never into the fantasy YA novels (The hunger games or harry potter). I'm not too sure about OF. I like fanfiction because A7X is popular and when I write it kind of brings me into an alternate world, y'know? Like, I get to play house with these guys haha. I'd probably keep my original ideas for my fanfictions to keep my fanfics more original, if that makes sense? I actually don't read an OF on here at all, and I don't read about any other fandoms. All my subscriptions are dedicated to Avenged.

Jeez, sorry for the essay-long response! Happy writing! :)

Usually I'm like that, too - first draft, proofread, post. But the stories that I'm working on now are some that I've done for NaNoWriMo over the years, and my first drafts for NaNo novels are always terrible - because it's about getting it all done in that time limit, and editing later. So... I guess I don't really think of them as first drafts. It's like word vomit. What I'm doing now would be the real first drafts. I really should just jump into them.

I considered participating in the write-a-thon, but I figured it would end up just irritating me. Between work, story editing duties, and life in general, I just wouldn't have the time. I want to write for me and not have to worry about anything else at the moment, so I decided against it. =) If I manage to post anything in June, maybe I'll just throw my word count up. We'll see how we go. What about you? Will you be participating?

Ooh, babysitting. There's a lot of money in that, I hear. I know a girl in New Zealand who does nannying. I work in customer service. Back in March I finally quit my job at McDonald's (where I worked for eight and a half years!) and now I work in a pet care shop. We call ourselves a pet shop, but the only pets we sell are fish. We're more about everything else you need for your animals. It's fun. ...sometimes. =P

Ahh, we share that dream - becoming a YA author. I know you probably hear this a lot, but you should try original fiction sometimes. You'd be great at it! Your ideas are so original. But I love that you're only writing fan fiction at the moment. Sometimes it's easier just to focus on one thing.

Mmkay. Responses now might be delayed, as I'm going to attempt to avoid the Internet and get some writing done instead. XD

@ Haylie Jaed
I only do first drafts and then a proofread/edit before I post. I've found that drafts just annoy me haha. And good for you! I hope you get some writing done! Maybe set a goal of like 500 words? Are you going to participate in the write-a-thon?

Right now, I babysit occasionally for a few families, but I want a full-time nanny/babysitting job to make more money, y'know? What kind of work do you do?

I only write fanfiction. I've never tried original fiction, except only for my english classes in school. Right now, I obviously write solely for fun. My stories are like, my babies LOL. I'd like to be published one day. I've always wanted to be a YA author.