Chapter 43:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5541231/43/

(comments and spoilers inside)

Hello everybody! (Warning: long post ahead.)

I'm an intern for the ambassador for America in my country and I am in some dire need for some enlightenment on American customs. I'm especially talking about the politics of a handshake.

We are going to the United States in a few weeks and although I will be backstage most of the time, I am going to meet my fair share of people. I am in university and am going to be considerably younger than most of the people I meet. I've asked many people around me but they've all given me varying responses. So, I have a few questions on the manners of handshaking.

1. According to American manners, if I meet somebody who is (much) older than I am, is it rude of me to hold out my hand first for a handshake? Or should I wait until they offer their hand first?

Here's the scenario: I am waiting at the table and as they (who are much older) walk in, I stand up and hold my hand out to them, while saying, "Hello it's nice to meet you. My name is so and so. Thank you for meeting us." and other such platitudes. Then i gesture with my hand to the empty seat to indicate that we sit and continue our discussion. Is that rude?

Or, I walk into a room to do some tasks, (i.e. gathering some documents, photocopying etc) and I meet somebody (again, older): is it okay for me to hold my hand out and greet them? Or do I keep my hands to myself and introduce myself, waiting for them to offer their hand first?

As I'm sure it is equally important in America, in my country, there is an extremely strong sense of age hierachy. Respect and honorifics for older people is of absolute paramount importance. In my country, I would never hold out my hand first to an older person, no matter how diplomatic or kind the gesture. I would wait for them to offer first. I really really do not want to come off as rude and this my first time doing anything anywhere near this important. 

I would really appreciate your help! Sometimes, it's these little things like a handshake that really matter.  I would also greatly appreciate some other traditional American customs that are an absolute must when conducting business or boardroom politics etc.

Thank you so much!

THIS IS WEEK 23/40

Hey ladies!  Welcome back, sorry for the week behind.  I've been super busy with life going upside down so I'm just stuggling with balancing life at the moment.  But nothing that can't be handled.  So anywho how is it going for ya?

Also noticed a couple of newbies, welcome to the club glad to have ya.  Let me know if you want added to the chart to show some progress of what you've done over the weeks to come.  Kind of help you see what you've done in how much time.  Up to you.

24/7 Support - ADF Fit Club LJ Community

Also its never too late to join in. ; )

Revamped the chart to get rid of the Bi-Week status.  Just posting updates now per week.  

I've been in this fandom for about 2 possible 3 years now.  I've only read probably about 6 fanfics.  I'm getting a nitch to finally open up my mind and dive in and read more.  Before I jump into the world unknown to me I had some questions:

• Is there an app for phones that has a place to read fanfiction?
• What about you authors here on ADF do you like reviews for your stories cause I don't see many of those here as compared to FF.n?  Cause I tend to be an reviewer of what I have read.  
• Is there anything I should know before jumping in?

I'm thinking what will probably be the easiest way to start is by reading the fanfics here on ADF then make my way to the master fic list and then venture out to ff.n.

Any guidance will be awesome!

It's the official opening of college football! My boys don't play until tomorrow (yes, it's a Sunday game, wtf).

So I'm gonna nod to my boys

Now tell me: who should I watch today? Who will you be watching? You foresee any big  upsets?

My picks are in the comments.

I have been a member of the fandom for a couple of years now and have loved just about every minute of it.   I have met some wonderful people and amazing writers here and I've learned so much about writing and I am still learning.  (Commas and I have yet to make an agreement, though.  I am still negotiating the treaty.)

But anyway, there are two things that just grit my teeth and those are the definitions of angst and fluff.

What the hell are they?

I have been told I write "fluffy" pieces and I appreciate the readers who write to tell me they enjoyed them SO much especially as a tonic against the angsty stories they are mired in.  I am thankful anyone is reading them, to be honest.

But...I am beginning to feel like all my stories are to readers is that palate cleansing bit of sherbet or still water one drinks before diving into the real meat and potatoes of fanfiction -- angst. I bet I put as much effort and toil into writing my stories as just about anyone but to have them written off as unremarkable and a panacea for the real thing? It sort of hurts.  By no means do I believe I am a great writer.  There are faults and failings in my stuff. I am well aware of them and I am truly trying to learn from my mistakes but all of my work is a labor of love. To me, they are anything but fluff and are as meaty as a pot roast.

I look at my stories and I see B&E (I always write them as the main characters) struggling and working to overcome their challenges.  There are realistic misunderstandings.  There's bad luck.  There are dangers and threats.  But there is always resolution at the end. I try to have the drama I include in my stories make sense.  There has to be a reason for the trouble.  And along the way, my quirky sense of humor intrudes now and then.

As nearly as I can figure, an angsty story is one where the central characters are assholes and no one has a sense of humor (except maybe Emmett, but he's usually more of a buffoon than anything else.) 

I get occasional pms from readers when drama is introduced to my stories worried that there will be heartfail (what the f is that?) and please let them know so they can stop reading.

I understand their concern for I have read fics where my emotions have been tightly wound to the breaking point and then when I get to the end and there is no resolution to it.  I was left feeling betrayed by the writer. There was no redemption, no growth and while I don't need a story to be all Happily Ever After, I want there to be a good reason for the pain the characters and, by association, I felt -- or at least an understanding of why it had to work that way.  

I've read several stories where this didn't happen. Is this what angst is?  Because in my opinion, that's simply crappy writing.

When I get those pms worried about the direction of my story, all I can say is "there is drama because without drama, there wouldn't be a story" and "I will strive to resolve it all sensibly" but there's not much more I want to say because I don't want to ruin the story telling.

So please, can some one give me a good definition of angst versus fluff.  Help me to understand.

Since its FFA.... i thought we needed a good Music campfire!!

So come in, and post your all time favourites, or the odd songs out that capture your attention, or the song that is just irking you the wrong way right now!!!

Share your favourites, and lets spread the music love!!!

My tastes at the moment are Indie and Folk Blues.....

MY FAVOURITE SONG OF THE WEEK is The Twilight Singers - On The Corner !!! Its totally owning me right now

Fink - This is the thing

So my laptop broke. Anyone that knows me past an 11-digit screen name, won't be surprised by this development of events. I have this tendency.. well, to just destroy anything I put my hands on. This was my 4th laptop in 2 years. This time I learned from my mistakes and got accidental cover on it, so they're trying to fix it right now - but if the dude's face was anything to go by, and the shocked "what did you do?" - well, I'm pretty sure I'm just going to get paid out.

Which is fine. Woo! New laptop. But I, err.. yeah, I've lost ALL MY DOWNLOADED FICS AND SAVED UNS FROM AUTHORS LONG GONE, and university work and stuff, but whatever -priorities.

I go on holiday on Tuesday and would love it if you'd recommend me things to put on my kindle. It could be anything. As long as I won't want to slit my wrists at the end of it, and I don't want it to be too funny because well, I snort when I laugh, and that'd be embarrassing on the plane and by the side of the pool.

So I want.. Edward and Bella. or anything really. I'm up for anything.

I want funneh, but not pee my pants funny. Not attractive in a bikini.

I don't mind angst. BUT I WANT RESOLUTION.

and i've been missing from the fandom for the past month and have NO idea what is going on. what WIP should I be reading right now?

and i know its FFAF, but just in case that rule about GIVING a rec' when ASKING for one is still valid. I haven't read anything new in DONKEY's, but the last thing I did and really enjoyed is now deleted. So I'll go with the second to last one which was Friday at Noon - its completed and stuff.

cheers big ears!

Each time I read a new fic, a different version of Edward appears in my mind. Some are stocky, some are lean. Some have facial hair, some are clean shaven. Some are young while others are are just beginning to show signs of age around their eyes. In fact, the only thing that seems to remain the same is the unmanageable hair.

When I found the art below, ironically, the first thing I thought about was the thousands of faces of Edward that exist in the wonderful world of fan fiction. To me, this guy could be so many of them.

Yes I bought it. And though I know it will never happen, I keep waiting for him to turn around.

What do you see when you are reading Edward?

 ..

Leeked clip of a certain scene from a certain movie that comes out to theatres in November? o.0 

Just opened up my facebook stream to see it, and wowza!

Was this already posted? I don't see it anywhere.

Does anyone else here craft? Knit, sew, jewellery, painting, glass blowing, pottery ... anything! 

What are your favourite sites for inspiration, patterns, instructions, etc? Any finished projects you'd like share?

Does anyone use Pinterest? I'm newly obsessed. My list of things to make just grew by a hundred times. I'm gracedevice over there; if you are on as well, I'd love to connect. (I also have invites to share if anyone needs one; though mine only took about a day to come after I requested it). 

So here i was,remembering a fab fic, which i had already read, and said to myself, i fancy a re-read of that, so I go a along a click,

Click,

Read

?

*scratches head*

"this isn't the fic I thought it was"

It was Reassigned Identity by Mk Marie, fab fic btw!

So I did some searching and still can't find it, So i need you lovely campers help, since coming back and finding a different ADF (which is lovely btw, but one hell of a shock, which I just kind of put out there, and now feel fully chistised in doing so) and now being unable to find the fic, in which i was looking forward to reading, I really do need your collective brains help.

Here is what I can remember:

Bella saw her fathers death

had to be put into WP

has brother?BBF who i think, I Gabe who's Gay

Edward is agent? looking after them, thery go to Cullen house, gang all there, Emmett is tattooist and does pierceings, James, who, who previously was straight ends up as Gabes BF, Jasper is Ex? Military, he has chopper.

BxE have Banter realationship, both get tongue peircings and tounge studs with sayings on them. They get attacked at the house, there is an escape route tunnel, leading to said chopper, Jake Edward and Bella get out, there is a fake explosion, jake fakes his death.....

Ringing ANY bells with anyone?

Help please

Thank you to evilangel6714!

The fic was Send me an angel by clpsperstar 

X

In the past months, flipping through the nominees in some awards I found a bunch of my (now) favorite stories . In these days, a lot of great stories are up for an award:

http://emergingswanawards.blogspot.com/

Here are some recs:

Camilla10's Parachutist2 - Our New World is in the categories Best Edward and Bella and Best romance. Camilla10 is also running as Oldie but Goodie Author.

If you are up for some humor, don't miss JMolly's Unforeseen Events Revisited.

A friend of mine discovered The Count of Tuscany thanks to this nomination and fell in love with it; it's now on my TBR list, I've gotten very good recs about it.

If you want some wolves among so many vamps, don't miss HopeReborn and his "Rising Star"

The Emerging Swan Awards have also a FF.net profile: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/3147840/

Happy reading,

- Raum

Hi everyone,

I've spent all day endlessly watching videos on Youtube and discovering the world of vloggers out there.  This all started because I follow Alex Day (nerimon) - of the 'Alex reads Twilight' fame many of you might know of, and he featured Kristina Horner (italktosnakes) in one of his latest videos - this led me to watch loads of her videos, and discover the world of Five Awesome Girls etc. 

So I have wasted all day in front of a computer, and now youtube is making me sit through adverts because I am watching so much, but I've become addicted and want more to watch!  I am totally in awe of people who can be so open with their lives on the internet and are obviously so passionate and active in their fandoms/interests.

So please tell me - who do you watch on YouTube and why?

Do you have friends who vlog, do you follow a well known Youtube "celebrity", do you only watch videos related to a certain topic?  Do you post a video blog? Share your video recs here!

http://www.youtube.com/user/italktosnakes

http://www.youtube.com/user/nerimon

http://www.youtube.com/user/charlieissocoollike

(First off, my rec, because otherwise I'll forget. Off the Beaten Path by rpgirl27. I am absolutely addicted to this story, and engage in inbox stalking on update days. It is AH, features a gorgeous Historyward and a grumpy Carlisle. What more could you need??)

Anyway, I am looking for a story, its sequel and an author (yep, I'm feeling greedy today ;-).

Back in the days of 2009, when I had first discovered fanfiction, I think I read a story on ff.net that I believe was called Horizons, by an author who went (at the time) by Megsly. It was a post BD fic, where Bella took too long to wake up after her change, so the Cullens buried her, presuming her to be dead, and Edward left Renesmee with Rosalie and went off to kill himself. However 17 years later Renesmee comes to Forks and meets Angela and Ben's 17 year old son, Benjamin Edward, who looks and shares personality traits with Edward her father. Add into the mix a Bella who lives with the Volturi and has forgotten all about her family, and I seem to remember quite enjoying it.

As far as I know, the author started posting a sequel. However I left fanfiction for a while, and when I thought to look a few months later she seemed to have changed her name to Fred-something and removed all her stories.

Does anyone know what happened to them, and where I might find a copy?

Thanks in advance :-)

o.o

What the hell happened????

I go away and come back to something completely different!

Not just the pic on the background, but the whole thing!

: (

Why the change?

Ranger Edit: And isn't it amazing? The changes are here to benefit everyone. A lot of hard work went into providing improvements that Campers had asked for. 

In future, please PM a Ranger with site questions. Thank you. :)

Hey Campers!

It's time for our discussion fire for Chapters 13-18 of 

The Port Angeles Players by WriteOnTime!

Come on in and share your thoughts, feelings, etc.  

No spoilers, please - we have lots of new readers.

See you back here on Tuesday to discuss Chapters 19-26. 

That's right campers - finish it up! :)

I am escaping the high taxation of Europe and moving to Amereeeeeca (West Coast)!

Are you an expat in America with wisdom to impart to this clueless newbie?

Are you an American who sees the follies of gormless foreigners in your land?

I want your advice!!! On any and everything!!!
 

Even if you have nothing serious to say, answer my silly questions below to distract me from this hugeass decision I've made:

- Will the perpetual sunshine and the happy people interfere with my ability to write angst?

- Will the waiter spit in my food if I continue to leave less than 15% in tips?

- Why does Wholefoods call out to me like a mothership to a lost alien? I don't even like vegetables!

- I love (the idea of) Netflix, will it love me back?

- Why does the Container Store thrill me to my tippy toes?

- Is the DMV really as bad as everyone says?

- Don't you get sick of turkey if you have it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas??

EDIT: The discussion has inevitably turned to the very important topic of chocolate and I need to know whether Kinder Bueno is easily available in the States?

Come and school me in the ways of the American.

- I haz a jaw.

-I know you haz a jaw, but I've been dripping dying to see the rest of you.

Verdict, wolvesnvamps?

The close of day

I wasn't really into this story, but I was relieved to hear that's why, as opposed to another reason, yk? Highly OOC though