As someone who does this, I have to say that, yes, this is how I conceptualize it. My characters are based on real people and real events, but don't have anything to do with the actual real person. And, of course, I do not believe that my stories are "canon" (whatever that means in RPF) or that the real people…

Onion cutting rogues must be wandering my apartment.

Why is it that slash fans are constantly having to answer for and made to feel shame for enjoying something that doesn't conform to the mainstream, male-dominated pop culture motifs and cliches.

If we're talking about appreciating storylines, sure. To the extent that some of this material is also enjoyed as sexual fantasy, I don't think that works. I can enjoy a femslash story for its writing and characterization, but I'm never going to linger over the sex scenes in the same way as I would a story that has at…

You shouldn't like a pairing because it's gay. You should like a pairing because you love the characters in it and the idea of their relationship. Het or gay shouldn't matter.

1.) It is okay to find gay men having sex hot.

I steadfastly refuse to believe this isn't— completely verbatim —a conversation Mike actually had with his kids, in public. :]

Check out the survey on Vagnosi's site for adult children estranged from parents. http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id… Yeah, it's not slanted at all. Sample question:

Your mom and my mom should go bowling.

I think it's pretty awful to assume that this lady uses AOL. She can't be that out of touch with reality, can she?

Sometimes!? It's always fun.

Yeah, if your take on your adult children telling you why they're upset is "they open their mouths and all I hear is whomp whomp whomp" then I don't think /they're/ the problem.

They accuse me of being a terrible person, but won't elaborate about exactly what I've done. Well, sometimes they do, but it doesn't make sense, at least to me.

I have some experience dealing with someone (not a parent) who is so willfully disconnected from reality that they just don't understaaaaaand why you're upseetttttt what did they do wronnnnng can't we talk about it? And fine, you summon your backbone and your patience and you explain it clearly and simply. And your…

"They accuse me of being a terrible person, but won't elaborate about exactly what I've done. Well, sometimes they do, but it doesn't make sense, at least to me."

I think sometimes abusive parents have a tendency to believe the lies they've told themselves about how wonderful their children's childhoods were. Particularly if their children turned out to be decent adults.

Her entire argument is totally meaningless without the other side of the story. I seriously doubt her children just woke up one morning and decided to cut her out of their lives. Unless she explains why they cut her off it's all just a lot of mindless jabbering.

So no naturally wavy hair? Guess I'm out. My hairs are too thick to hold any style they don't damn well want to.

Welcome to America, where being well-liked is more important than getting basic shit right.

Just as we're entitled to mock him for it.