I get pulp sci-fi out of UF. Which is fine. I love me some pulp. Common People is a great song. I just also like sci-fi where the enemy is also allowed to be smart. To me, it makes the triumph of the heroes feel a bit more satisfying when the villains they're arrayed against are capable of outwitting, say, a heavily-concussed guppy. If nothing else, it's an additional layer of characterisation; these people are criminal masterminds, they're supposed to be good at their jobs, and just because we don't like them doesn't mean they're incompetent. But that's not what you've spent the last twenty years writing, and that's fine.

Hey, fun fact: you've been doing this for roughly the same amount of time that I've been breathing. Feel old, dammit!

Also, no, I didn't miss the rest of the thread, my eyes do still sort of work, but to me it came off as being dismissive of the concept of criticism. I should have looked at it deeper, and for not doing so I apologise, but that sort of thing gets my back up like nobody's business and the red mist did rather descend. I suppose it's better than punching people outside a Wetherspoons, but not by much.

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"She's old, she's lame, she's barren too, // "She's not worth feed or hay, // "But I'll give her this," - he blew smoke at me - // "She was something in her day." -- Garnet Rogers, Small Victory

FiMFiction.net: we might accept blatant porn involving the cast of My Little Pony but as God is my witness we have standards.