So, to start this post, I figure I will say this right now: I am here because other people expect me to be heart-breakingly mean (apparently I'm a hilariously mean person, I had no idea) to the happiest forum I've ever seen. Interpret that how you will, I'm currently too fascinated by this thread to do any of that meanness tomfoolery.
Alright; responses to the 1st page:
1st, @OP, I think that you've described to me every generally happy person I've ever known. You're story is pretty vague and... well, he just sounds like a happy person. Let me provide basic examples to point out the flaws:
1-He laughs and jokes and smiles. He likes you.
2-He doesn't do any of that. So... he sits straight-faced and never says anything funny and I guess that means you're friends?
Maybe I live in a completely different social circle than most people, but, last I checked, total lack of laughter and smiling of any kind meant you at least were bored with the person and quite possibly disliked them. I mean, what you described could mean something for some people, but unless you type up a several thousand word description of him I rather doubt he's going to sound like anything other than absolutely normal to an outsider.
Almost forgot! No. No, transferred feelings doesn't work like that. You could argue being around happy people makes things more enjoyable, but love doesn't force love. If anything, that'd be called Stockholm Syndrome.
Responses to the 2nd Page:
@Dan Druff's 1st post - Yo! You sound just like me! Only you have absolutely no tact (subtlety goes a long way) and aren't the slightest bit constructive. I particularly like that totally irrelevant cat metaphor you used as a means of condescending, class act
I guess you're third paragraph was an explanation of why this forum shouldn't exist? That's... Well, this isn't the place that you'll win that argument. I'll put it that way.
@Dan Druff's 2nd post - Hi again! You are correct, your post wasn't sugarcoated. Possibly coated in capsaicin, but certainly not sugar. While I agree that it isn't generally good to feed someone undue positivity, it probably isn't great to bludgeon them with disappointment, either. In regards to this forum being universally sugarcoated... Meh. I agree, but I get the feeling that you tried so hard to distance yourself from that mindset that you ended up only being able to communicate ideas by launching them with a trebuchet.
@MW1's 2nd post - He did give advice. Read between the lines and you'll find it's more or less my advice.
@Dan Druff's 3rd and 4th posts (expecting double digits at this point) - First, I find it hilarious that you got hung up on the debatable, ill-defined uses of "therefore" when discussing a run-on sentence. Just... Priorities man!
Also, in regards to "not being here for a life story," I doubt the rest of this forum is here for cat metaphors. Figure out how conversation (maybe rhetoric is closer to correct here) works before criticizing quite relevant parts of it. While I'm on the subject of irrelevant semantics, I have to say, "mean" and "brutally honest" people aren't mistakable. The belief that they are stems from the arrogance of the mean and the fragility of the vulnerable.
3rd Page! Yea! Make that progress!
@PDM's post about knowing what is wanted (I'm not going to try to # all of yours, sorry) - I really don't care about context or reasoning, it's absurd to say that you know what is wanted. If there is more than one person involved in any discussion, then no one person knows what is wanted. Perhaps you mean "What is wanted on this forum (as opposed to, directed at these people), but the way it is, it comes off as power tripping (which, in context, is hilariously absurd).
@XPR15SR - Wait? Does the respect thing cease applying when discussing people that are banned? That's interesting... Wait, no it isn't! That's basically saying that you're only allowed to insult people who can't defend themselves. Meh, whatever, moving on.
@Lisa Shea's 2nd post - I guess I might be either emotionally jaded or missing a lot of the story (assuming some sort of email went on between you and Dan), but doesn't it seem really harsh to threaten someone with the cops when what they said was more or less, "Your writing is bad and your story is vague, grr!" I mean... Alright, I'll concede to context here. Surely I'm missing or overlooking something.
@Chautauqua1's last post - As someone who wishes to be a writer - Don't say things like "one post doesn't...". Also, English classes are, unfortunately, not that relevant to writing (or schools to intelligence, but that's another rant). It doesn't come off as arrogant, but unwilling to accept... is criticism the right word for Dan? Whatever, if you want to practice an art, you don't ever get to blame anyone else before considering every possible scenario that puts blame on you. Also, stop putting tremendous emotional value in the views of strangers. It can't be healthy, especially when that stranger whose opinion you value so highly is the internet's
4th page! I am plowing through this entire thread, like a boss!
Eh, may as well respond to MW1's post, seeing as I can't just not respond to this page: That isn't how you use therefore. Sorry
