[Thuriniel]

I go sometimes to Council of Elrond to the Sindarin 101 forum. The other day I decided to check the book discussions. There was one post about Elladan and Elrohir. I decided to open it. Here's the question:

"Is it true that Arwen had twin brothers? I keep reading about them in fanfic ... are they a fanfic invention?"

Reply:

"Uh ... I think they're in the book ... "

I gagged .

I'm grateful that we have this little corner where we can talk Tolkien in a mature way. There are newbies to the fandom, but there are also members who have such a vast knowledge of Tolkien that it makes it a delight to ask when a question pops in my mind.

We all have opinions and they are bound to shine through sooner or later, whether we're discussing Sindarin mutation or whatever "general discussion" topic we get ourselves into. I think the key is being civilized and mature about what's being discussed. If you see something that offends you ... please contact the one who posted ... odds are that it was a misunderstanding. Give them the benefit of the doubt (Viv and Claudia know I've learned this the hard way ... and I'm so thankful to both of them for being totally understanding and not judging me ... ). And if you're just butting heads ... it never hurts to put yourselves in each other's shoes and seeing things from a different perspective.

I appreciate this little corner in the net. I appreciate the support that members offer, the friendships I've encountered, and the job the administrators are doing to maintain this site.

PS: Inglor ... remember what I told you yesterday? So much for heeding my father's advice ! I'm hopeless.

And in case anyone is interested on hearing what my father has to say, here it goes, old Spanish wisdom at its best:

Shit: The more you stir it, the more it smells.

[ghettoelleth]

Okay, this is my last word (probably) on this and only because I do care about other people's feelings. I need to remember just because I'm a hard ass, not everyone is (someone once told me in a chat room that I was nuts because I sniff too much Lee Press-on-Nail adhesive and he wouldn't be surprised if my children had been born with antlers and fists growing out of their asses....I thought that was hilarious). Most people I am close to are the same way, I guess it's a cultural thing and the fact that I grew up with six brothers and two really bitchy sisters. But then, my husband, who is a brit, is very similar. His favorite term of endearment is 'bitch tits'.

I often disregard the fact that there are people who are, by nature, not like this and I make flip comments that they take to heart. I am SORRY I said whining. To me, that's almost a compliment as I usually get something more along the lines of, 'quit crying like a little bitch'. which to me has about the same impact. I simply meant, we shouldn't complain. Second, my glib swipe at Michael Moore was made cuz I thought it was funny. I actually was surprised when I saw Bowling for Columbine because I never in a million years would have thought I'd hear myself say the words 'profound statement' and 'Marilyn Manson' in the same sentence. I apologize to the person that is Michael Moore while retaining my right to disagree with some of his work.

Finally, as I said earlier to someone else (after I pulled my foot out of my mouth and could type again), Who the HECK knew that Andreth knew Michael Moore??? My luck, next thing ya know, Craig Parker's gonna drop through my ceiling (as in the stories), look over my shoulder as I'm typing and say, "You know, Haldir would never have gotten himself in that position."

Anywho, as I said, I'm an ass cuz I think its fun, props to you that don't agree, I'll try to be a little less assish. Proof that I should probably be heavily medicated is available here as well as a stunningly lame attempt at an avatar of me and the Man of La Manchester:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ghettoelleth/

Peace
Jes

[Thuriniel]

[Viv]

[sindohte]

[Andreth]

This is the second time I've sworn to myself that I would stay away from this thread, but I was told that I received an apology here and I consider it rude not to respond to a public apology.

Ghettoelleth, thank you for apologizing, but I'm not buying it. I think you laid that trap on purpose, just trying to bait me into getting angry, and you're obviously very good at it. Probably had a lot of practice at starting arguments. Oh yes, I've seen your type before - you are a master baiter.

OMG I am SO funny. (I didn't mean any of that, BTW, it was all just a segway to my stunning punch line.)

Thank you for the apology and for clearing it up as to what you meant. However, I think Sindohte and Thuriniel said it very well - it's best to let people get to know you first, and also, no matter how direct you are in RL, sometimes it's best to tone that down in a forum where people can't see your facial expressions or hear your tone of voice. I'm generally a very direct person and can be very crass on occasion (especially when I'm teasing Inglor about penis size or female hygiene and menstruation) but I do try to temper my habit for direct comments when I'm on a public forums. Those I save for my personal conversations with Sindohte.

And because I can be so verbose (I know, hold your gasps of shock) sometimes the meaning of my statements gets lost in all the words, so just to clarify: I don't care if you guys do or don't like Michael Moore, or do or don't agree with the free speech rights of various celebrities. It would be pretty boring if everyone had the same opinion of everything. I made those examples for two reasons - 1) Because I thought it was kind of ironic that in a thread concerning whether or not there were too many politically biased statements made in the forums, the examples that were used to illustrate some of the opinions were politically biased. I know they weren't meant to be, but they were, which was part of my point. and 2) To try and show how a statement can be taken different ways by different people.

I don't mean to say that the forum should become this wholly PC environment where everyone has to vanilla-ize their comments for fear of potentially offending someone out there. I just wanted to say that acceptance of free speech goes both ways. We have to be careful how personally we take each other's comments, but most importantly, we have to think about what we say in the first place and ask ourselves if it's really necessary, or if we're just saying it because we think we can.

Sometimes friendships are more important than opinions. I'd rather keep my friends than feel like I had my say, and I'd like to think that my friends would feel the same way. Besides, there's far more interesting non-Tolkien topics to talk about besides politics/religion. Like sex. After all, isn't that what draws most of us pervs to a het-only archive in the first place?

And now I really am going to shut up this time.

[Scribe]

[Andreth]

[Viv]

[ghettoelleth]

Oh yes, I've seen your type before - you are a master baiter.

Have you ever been surfing the net, minding your own business when you come across a line that makes you jump out of your chair, beverage and snack of choice flying everyway and screaming, OMG CAN THEY SEE ME??????

anybody got a mop?

xxJesxx

[Andreth]

[Viv]

[Scribe]

....and that's when I shot them, your honour.

[inglor]

*spew* Timing... its all about timing

Thanks ladies, I really needed this.

Inglor

[Thuriniel]