Review replies are at bottom of profile
Gangs of Lothian Updates: Chapter 5 posted 06/15/05
"The one who tells the stories rules the world."
- American Indian Proverb, Hopi
"Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."
- G. K. Chesterton
Special huggles to Casey Drake, S. P. Ratt, Shadow Gryphonand especially calbrit486 for their long loyalty and reviewing more than one story repeatedly!
Check out some of the authors and stories on my fave lists... they deserve it!
I've deleted some of the stories on here. The ones that really are going nowhere and need to be rewritten from scratch. I'm playing a game called wipe the slate clean... note that some unfinished stories are still posted here. Those are the ones I know I will finish when I stop being lazy.
If you want to know what a catobleepas is, visit my brother's website (http://www.freewebs.com/101usesforadeadcatobleepas). He's got a page on the subject.
Hopefully I'm back!
Thanks to all my reviewers. You have given me much-needed confidence, allowing me to continue. By the way, if you review my work, I will be curious and at least read your profile, and I will read and review any of your work that catches my interest.
Replies To Reviews
Those who reviewed Catobleepas:
S. P. Ratt - Yeah, I know about the Wind of the Soul reviewing problems, but there's not much I can do about them :( . Glad to know Tharan has a fan, but don't let the Guild know how smart he is! Ssh! Big secret:D
Casey Dragonstar - Different voices? Cool. I'll update when I've finished WM, I think... that one's getting too close to the end to be left much longer. Although there are still many chapters to go. Waah!
calbrit486 - I know, I wasn't happy with that chapter either. I might have to redo it a bit. I'm focusing on Wild Magic at the moment... want to finish it... so thisonemay be updated slowly. Plus I'm running out of ideas. :(
Blah246 - Squirt bottles made me laugh XD!Wish I could think of a way to work them in...
syrai - Heya! Maybe I should just start numbering my paragraphs... but naah. I like you quoting them. I wouldn't have a clue what you were on about if you used paragraph numbers. Glad you came back from your cave!
Susan G. - Bows. Thank you for your kind praise. Since you bring up the point about deviation from sterotypes being stereotypical, I have to say you're absolutely right. This started off poking fun at traditional fantasy and sword-and-sorcery... stupid heroes, smart henchmen, incompetent thieves and mages etc... when it suddenly occured to me that that was just as stereotypical and cliched in its own way. So I decided to deviate from the traditional deviation, too... Tharan's smart, Jeka's female, and the rest of their party are all good at something. And as far as I'm concerned, they're all real characters, not just stereotypes and cliches. I know about them, their upbringing, their strengths and weaknesses... they're as real as any serious character I write. Maybe that's why this story is "the ideal fantasy world"... I'm treating it as a real one. _ Just a suggestion.
TobyKikami - And, as always, I'm glad to hear from you. Thanks.
Ailinn - I based the traders in Catobleepas on the traders and merchants in Egypt and Turkey... I went on a cruise there once, and they really are incredibly persistent. It is kind of sweet, though. _
Plouton - Bows. Thank you, and I hope to see your name on future reviews...
DownerLithium - This story has got me compared to Terry Pratchett and now Douglas Adams! I'm seriously honoured! Thanks!
Muffers - The grammer nut returns! Hail! Erek has to be a pleasant individual; can you think of anyone trying to cope with his kind of luck if they weren't so easy-going? Serious troubles. The sentence was okay, and maybe you're right; but then again, they're only just beginning to see the things that were all around them... ah, well. It'll turn out okay in the end, I reckon.
SilentRiver - Thanks for the praise, and I hope you keep liking it.
temblance - Yeah, the direction finder is a compass. The whole point of Aryn, though, is that he doesn't believe in magic, and so he has to find other ways of doing things. This seems to result in science.
shade-505 - Sure, I will. _
MAK Phoenix - Thanks, I'll try to keep it that way.
Nam Ghosthand - Hahaha. Okay. I'll Rock On, as you tell me to do. Twice. A little less sugar, perhaps? ;D
Reda - All the chapter titles are things Jeka says in the chapter... but I do try to make them appropriate or amusing quotes.
The ones who read 12975:
nurin-ee - Do you mean really good or really god? Because given the nature of the beings in the story, either is a possibility... despite me being really, really worried if you mean the latter... hehehe. Nah, thanks for reviewin'.
DarkerLink - Are you going for huggles? (Glares suspiciously) Hehehe. I'm in a funny mood today.You know what I think is saddest about this story, in its way? The other beings are a fixed number who've just lost one. That's like an entire 12976th of their species has vanished forever... something that's never, ever happened before. And they're not going to understand it. That's sad. They're so indestructible, and yet when one goes, they really are irreplaceable. (Sniffles).
Shadow Gryphon - They chose the number 'cos it was the only one that had real meaning for them. As for what they were... aliens. Just not life as we know it.
Casey Dragonstar - No, because I only just wrote it before putting it up. Also, as far as I'm concerned, you lot are my judge and jury. Fortunately you haven't executed me yet...
calbrit486 - I know what you mean. Looking forward to more Sorceress, hear from ya l8r.
The wocket in your pocket - I love your name. _ Harry Potter and the Depressing Plot of Doom! Whaddya think? I could be J. K. Rowling, dammit! If only I published a bestseller... hehehe. I reckon this story is cheer-upping because it's a sort of celebration of life and death; I wrote it almost to show how special we are at being able to do both. And I'll write as good as I like so nyer!
Eyekt - Yeah, I get your point there. Rewrite? I might yet... although I'm glad you had to think hard to give that. Shows I've done well. And thanks for the CC, too.
PAnZuRiEl - Thanks... I'd love to give a longer reply to your review, but there really isn't much to say to that... bows.
S. P. Ratt - Yeah. I was kinda thinking... life, not as we know it, that has as much trouble understanding us as we do it. It's like there's this huge barrier because we just can't be similar enough to understand without not being what we are anymore...? Does that make sense?
shade-505 - Thanks.
My Arcana reviewers:
DarkerLink - Indeed you shall. Indeed you shall.
Mystic Elven Warrior- Easy. It's a medieval-ish crane! They're actually pretty old inventions... they just used to be less electronic and more people swinging off them kinds of thing. The way to catch mistakes is to review as you go... 'cos the review thingy opens up in a separate window, see? But thanks for the compliment.
Casey Drake - Skip along and everything wonderful is a dead boring story. I wouldn't write that. Bleugh.
calbrit486 - It's certainly a little calmer, and a lot less full of blood and guts and stuff. So far. I'm afraid it'll never match the... global... nature of WM, but then this is actually a love story. Sorry about that. I'll have to go and scrub the taint off me soon.
Iccorp2 - Second thoughts gooood.
Ryustorm - I do not read romantic novels. Mostly because they lack fantasy settings. Doesn't mean I can't be a hopeless romantic. As for Blade going all angsty... too late! I'm afraid he tends to carry his problems with him a lot.Wanda is a pretty solid character, and as for Chalisse... well... we'll see, shall we?
rrmehta364 - Blade isn't using Chalisse so much as he feels he's using Chalisse; subtle distinction. His head's screwed up... me the evil one _. As for his name, it actually is Blade, but not because he's a military commander. I won't tell you why any of my characters are named as they are, because that would spoil my efforts to try and get people to guess where this story came from. Not that anybody's trying. Anyway, he's called Blade for the same reason Chalisse, Wanda and Koyn have their names. Look at the chapter names. Manipulate the words. Look suspiciously at the title of the damn story...
Hemtec - Yay! Guesses! You're actually closer than you think... you do need to know something about certain stuff to know exactly what I'm up to, but you've got the general idea with them each having their own little storyline going, even if those storylines do coincide. I won't comment on the two groups of characters I currently have meeting, but thanks and I hope you continue to read.
Everyone, listen up. I named my chapters to make it easier to guess where this story came from. C'mon, folks, I want guesses here! Well done to Hemtec for actually guessing a little with reasonable accuracy. Now I want more! More, I say!
And finally, ye who reviewed Gangs of Lothian and are now reading my profile:
Keaira - The world does indeed need saving. But can you really expect that lot to do it? Someone comes in and whispers to Celyn. What? You mean they really are the only ones trying? Eeek!
bookworm - Thanks for your review and your points. The stuff you mentioned was mainly scene-setting, and also a get-out clause since Miko's meant to be smart but I make a habit of not making my characters more intelligent than I am, in case I blow it for them. Also, your alteration actually changes the meaning of the paragraph, so it will stand as was.
calbrit486 - Yeah, Ryustorm and I have a wee bit of communication difficulty at the moment when it comes to actually proof-reading. See, we have the first umpteen chapters written, only we've both been editing them, so before we post Ryustorm has to send her version to me (so that I can proof-read and save that version). Then I have to send it back (so that she can check my corrections, proof-read and save that version). Then she has to send it back to me (so I can grammar-check and save that version). Finally, I have to send it back to her so she can post it. I think some bits of that went missing recently, quite understandably, and all my files are at home, so we've kinda ground... to... a... halt. Oops.
Bllatrx - There are adults. They're just hiding. :D There's a large amount currently being worked through.
Casey Dragonstar - Correct. They do sound similar. And that is the total sum of spoiler you're getting...
Kurtlan - Ahoy, new reviewer! Dunno if you'll ever see this... but if you do, nice to have you aboard.
0. Gangs Of Lothian reviews
In a world overrun by gangs, fallen into anarchy,a gang called Novadragon and a thief called Miko take on more than they bargained for... (co-written by Ryustorm and Celyn)
Fiction Fantasy - Fiction Rated: T - English - Action/Adventure/Fantasy - Chapters: 6- Words: 24490 - Reviews: 20 - Updated: 8-25-05 - Published: 4-24-05
FictionPress.com - let the words flow
