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[Dunquixote]

I haven't posted this chapter yet. I wasn't sure if I liked how I wrote most of it. I liked the first part of it though.  I think I'm done with the chapter now,  though I'm likely to edit it tomorrow since I've been finding mistakes in my story after I had them posted for some time.  Okay.  It's posted...for now.

Modifié par Dunquixote, 19 avril 2012 - 04:26 .

[LolaLei]

Here's something for you guys to consider, I'd like to know your thoughts on it. I was on the "Can we have a Templar companion?" Thread earlier and someone said the following:

"Having such a well-known character such as Cullen as a companion might be more trouble than it's worth. Everybody has different opinions regarding how a person such as Cullen should behave, etc., and they can't please everybody. So I think he'll be an important figure (if he shows up), but not a companion."

The poster does have a point, is it likely to incite fan rage if he doesn't behave how we expect especially since a lot of us, including non-fans have different ideas about him. I personally wouldn't mind what they did with his character, even if they turned him into a bit of a dick it would still be intriguing, although I would prefering him to stay relatively in character. Plus his character hasn't been developed enough yet for us to have a definitive idea about how he should behave etc so he could easily behave any number of ways and it still be in keeping with his backstory.

Besides, a lot of people love Anders but his personality (and voice) changed completely and the nerd rage wasn't too bad from that outcome lol.

Modifié par LolaLei, 19 avril 2012 - 01:30 .

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

I love that little half smile he does, he pulls that face a lot in DA2. He never does a full on smile though, which I think is cute. I'm hoping he's saving that one for our new PC!

Well, that's actually an Anders smile, not a Cullen smile. But definitely not enough smiling.

[R2s Muse]

Wow, I think I'm caught up now! A few things to add... that are sorta old now.

@Dunquixote, there are lots of resources on writing romance/sex scenes on the internets, and some deal directly with fanfic. General advice I've heard is read a lot of sex scenes and take note of what you like, verbiage you like, etc.

One resource I like, and it seems silly, but is from a How to  write a romance novel site on What makes a sex scene sizzle.

Also, Advice for writing romance and sex scenes which is specifically about fanfic.

@SamaraDraven, just had to LOL at your comment about dumping deleted scenes in a notes file. I do the exact same thing, and it's even called notes.doc.

@everyone, on questions you would ask Cullen, you guys are hilarious. My faves so far are "can I touch your hair?" and "can I see your talent tree?" LMAO I have nothing to add...

Modifié par R2s Muse, 19 avril 2012 - 01:37 .

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

Here's something for you guys to consider, I'd like to know your thoughts on it. I was on the "Can we have a Templar companion?" Thread earlier and someone said the following:

"Having such a well-known character such as Cullen as a companion might be more trouble than it's worth. Everybody has different opinions regarding how a person such as Cullen should behave, etc., and they can't please everybody. So I think he'll be an important figure (if he shows up), but not a companion."

The poster does have a point, is it likely to incite fan rage if he doesn't behave how we expect especially since a lot of us, including non-fans have different ideas about him. I personally wouldn't mind what they did with his character, even if they turned him into a bit of a dick it would still be intriguing, although I would prefering him to stay relatively in character. Plus his character hasn't been developed enough yet for us to have a definitive idea about how he should behave etc so he could easily behave any number of ways and it still be in keeping with his backstory.

Besides, a lot of people love Anders and his personally (and voice) changed completely and the nerd rage wasn't too bad from that outcome lol.

Hmm, I think they have a point about fan concern. But, I don't see that really being a motivator for the BW writers. For all the official BW apologizing I've seen, it has never included regrets about Anders. In fact, the opposite. His character evolved. Read the short story. End of story.

That said, I'm honestly not optimistic about him becoming a companion. For all the affection the (primarily female) writers have for him, apparently, I've never seen the devs jump in and discuss him with us (here for example...). I think if he made sense story-wise they might consider it, but I personally don't think fan love will make a difference - one way or the other.

FWIW, Galagraphia once contacted Jennifer Hepler to ask about Cullen's future. Her response was that we would see some closure of his story. But with the caveat that she said this way back before all the DLC plans changed, etc. So probably doesn't mean much now. :shrug:

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

Here's something for you guys to consider, I'd like to know your thoughts on it. I was on the "Can we have a Templar companion?" Thread earlier and someone said the following:

"Having such a well-known character such as Cullen as a companion might be more trouble than it's worth. Everybody has different opinions regarding how a person such as Cullen should behave, etc., and they can't please everybody. So I think he'll be an important figure (if he shows up), but not a companion."

The poster does have a point, is it likely to incite fan rage if he doesn't behave how we expect especially since a lot of us, including non-fans have different ideas about him. I personally wouldn't mind what they did with his character, even if they turned him into a bit of a dick it would still be intriguing, although I would prefering him to stay relatively in character. Plus his character hasn't been developed enough yet for us to have a definitive idea about how he should behave etc so he could easily behave any number of ways and it still be in keeping with his backstory.

Besides, a lot of people love Anders and his personally (and voice) changed completely and the nerd rage wasn't too bad from that outcome lol.

Hmm, I think they have a point about fan concern. But, I don't see that really being a motivator for the BW writers. For all the official BW apologizing I've seen, it has never included regrets about Anders. In fact, the opposite. His character evolved. Read the short story. End of story.

That said, I'm honestly not optimistic about him becoming a companion. For all the affection the (primarily female) writers have for him, apparently, I've never seen the devs jump in and discuss him with us (here for example...). I think if he made sense story-wise they might consider it, but I personally don't think fan love will make a difference - one way or the other.

FWIW, Galagraphia once contacted Jennifer Hepler to ask about Cullen's future. Her response was that we would see some closure of his story. But with the caveat that she said this way back before all the DLC plans changed, etc. So probably doesn't mean much now. :shrug:

Was the closure for Cullen supposed to be during DA2 or was she asking Hepler about his future in DA3?

My mind changes rapidly about whether or not he'll be a companion/LI in DA3. Sometimes I feel like it's almost a certainity that he will because of all the effort they went to retconning his DA:O epilogues (causing fan backlash) and giving him an important an important role in DA2 etc, it almost seems pointless them doing that for such a previously minor NPC if they didn't have bigger plans for him. Then other times I feel like we probably won't get him at all, like when I saw the concept art for the Seeker and Warden armor during the PAX event.

I've seen a few interviews where they've asked David Gaider about Cullen and requested him for as a companion/LI, he seems to have a soft spot for him and said that he'd personally love to see him become a party member for DA3. I've never seen the Dev's talk about Cullen's character without prompt though, I hoping it's because they want to stay tight lipped about things.

... I guess it all depends on what the main storyline(s) will be for DA3, if it heavily features the Mage/Templar rebellion it would make sense to have a Templar (or ex Templar) companion, in which case why bother to make a whole new character when you've got a perfectly good one already ripe for the picking. However, with that "saving the Earth from itself" tagline they're running with it makes me think that the story will be about something much bigger than just Mages and Templars.

I seriously think times running out for us getting Cullen as a companion/LI though. If he's not made one in DA3 then he'll probably be too old in any of the future games.

Modifié par LolaLei, 19 avril 2012 - 02:08 .

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

I love that little half smile he does, he pulls that face a lot in DA2. He never does a full on smile though, which I think is cute. I'm hoping he's saving that one for our new PC!

Well, that's actually an Anders smile, not a Cullen smile. But definitely not enough smiling.

Really? I'm sure I've seen him pull that face a few times in game. I know he definitely does it when congratulating Hawke on redeeming the Amell family name.

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

I love that little half smile he does, he pulls that face a lot in DA2. He never does a full on smile though, which I think is cute. I'm hoping he's saving that one for our new PC!

Well, that's actually an Anders smile, not a Cullen smile. But definitely not enough smiling.

Really? I'm sure I've seen him pull that face a few times in game. I know he definitely does it when congratulating Hawke on redeeming the Amell family name.

I meant this one in particular is from an Anders swap:


I do think his smiles are too few and far between, though. I think you're right that we get a little one about Amell (I've never had an Amell import so far, so don't have any pics myself). Then, creepily enough, here's another when he talks about Meredith and how he wouldn't have liked her either when he was younger. LOL



But, yes, they're always very... restrained.

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

FWIW, Galagraphia once contacted Jennifer Hepler to ask about Cullen's future. Her response was that we would see some closure of his story. But with the caveat that she said this way back before all the DLC plans changed, etc. So probably doesn't mean much now. :shrug:

Was the closure for Cullen supposed to be during DA2 or was she asking Hepler about his future in DA3?

This was a while ago. After DA2 came out, but I think before any of the DLCs...? DA3 wasn't even whispered of yet.

And, I agree, if future games move forward in time, Cullen's window for being a companion is closing. Perhaps it already has, depending on what they do with DA3's story. This is part of why I'm no longer optimistic. I think it would be more likely for him to be an NPC or have a cameo. But, I'm still hopeful!!

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

I love that little half smile he does, he pulls that face a lot in DA2. He never does a full on smile though, which I think is cute. I'm hoping he's saving that one for our new PC!

Well, that's actually an Anders smile, not a Cullen smile. But definitely not enough smiling.

Really? I'm sure I've seen him pull that face a few times in game. I know he definitely does it when congratulating Hawke on redeeming the Amell family name.

I meant this one in particular is from an Anders swap:


I do think his smiles are too few and far between, though. I think you're right that we get a little one about Amell (I've never had an Amell import so far, so don't have any pics myself). Then, creepily enough, here's another when he talks about Meredith and how he wouldn't have liked her either when he was younger. LOL



But, yes, they're always very... restrained.

He makes a half smile when talking about the idea of not liking Meredith when he was younger? LOL! Aw, he's definitely wistful about his past. I suspect deep down he kinda misses the days when he was young and naive, before the Broken Circle events when he was just a regular Templar. It's those little reactions that makes me feel like he's overcome a lot of the issues he had in DA:O/the beginning of DA2.

I like to think he's saving his big doppy smiles for when he falls in love with the new hero in DA3 (wishful thinking lol.)

Modifié par LolaLei, 19 avril 2012 - 02:20 .

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

FWIW, Galagraphia once contacted Jennifer Hepler to ask about Cullen's future. Her response was that we would see some closure of his story. But with the caveat that she said this way back before all the DLC plans changed, etc. So probably doesn't mean much now. :shrug:

Was the closure for Cullen supposed to be during DA2 or was she asking Hepler about his future in DA3?

This was a while ago. After DA2 came out, but I think before any of the DLCs...? DA3 wasn't even whispered of yet.

And, I agree, if future games move forward in time, Cullen's window for being a companion is closing. Perhaps it already has, depending on what they do with DA3's story. This is part of why I'm no longer optimistic. I think it would be more likely for him to be an NPC or have a cameo. But, I'm still hopeful!!

If he isn't a companion in DA3 and just a cameo/NPC then I suspect the demand for him to be a companion will become even more fierce, with enough attention drawn to that fact they'd probably introduce him as a companion/LI in dlc form (like they did with Seb.) Though that always puts me off because they never put as much effort into dlc characters as they do with the ones already in game.

I've noticed that Dragon Age always has at least one romanceable character heavily related to the main story (in DA:O it was Alistair and Morrigan and in DA2 it was Anders.) So if Cullen does turn out to be a companion then in DA3 then he'll probably be one of the plot related romances.

Modifié par LolaLei, 19 avril 2012 - 02:22 .

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

If he isn't a companion in DA3 and just a cameo/NPC then I suspect the demand for him to be a companion will become even more fierce, with enough attention drawn to that fact they'd probably introduce him as a companion/LI in dlc form (like they did with Seb.) Though that always puts me off because they never put as much effort into dlc characters as they do with the ones already in game.

I've noticed that Dragon Age always has at least one romanceable character heavily related to the main story (in DA:O it was Alistair and Morrigan and in DA2 it was Anders.) So if Cullen does turn out to be a companion then in DA3 then he'll probably be one of the plot related romances.

Argh, agree, no DLC companion! It would be delightful for him to be centrally involved. Altho, I suppose that could be a double-edged sword... given all the options those types of companions have for breaking your heart and leaving you... based on past performance. Of course, I'd just meta-game the hell out of it to get my happy ending. LOL

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

If he isn't a companion in DA3 and just a cameo/NPC then I suspect the demand for him to be a companion will become even more fierce, with enough attention drawn to that fact they'd probably introduce him as a companion/LI in dlc form (like they did with Seb.) Though that always puts me off because they never put as much effort into dlc characters as they do with the ones already in game.

I've noticed that Dragon Age always has at least one romanceable character heavily related to the main story (in DA:O it was Alistair and Morrigan and in DA2 it was Anders.) So if Cullen does turn out to be a companion then in DA3 then he'll probably be one of the plot related romances.

Argh, agree, no DLC companion! It would be delightful for him to be centrally involved. Altho, I suppose that could be a double-edged sword... given all the options those types of companions have for breaking your heart and leaving you... based on past performance. Of course, I'd just meta-game the hell out of it to get my happy ending. LOL

LOL! So long as there was another "dark ritual" style get out of jail free card like there was with the Alistair romance then I'm good with that! I think the option to be able to save the plot tied romance should be available (like we could save Anders even though he blew the Chantry up.)

Did you notice how Cullen didn't make any comments about Anders blowing it up? You would have throught he'd have strong opinions on that, yet he still lets Hawke and Anders leave even if you sided with the Mages lol.

[LolaLei]

Y'know, it makes me wonder if maybe the original idea was for us to have a Templar companion in DA2 but it got scrapped because Anders was an important companion who was heavily tied into the main plot. There's no way he would have agreed to join Hawke or stayed in the party if a Templar companion had been introduced so maybe they dropped that idea and introduced one of the other companions instead (like Fenris or whatever.)

It would account for why Cullen was introduced back into the game with retconned epilogues and a bigger role, pehaps he was the original choice for a Templar companion and they just kept his character development in the game to save re-writing it.

[Dunquixote]

LolaLei wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

I love that little half smile he does, he pulls that face a lot in DA2. He never does a full on smile though, which I think is cute. I'm hoping he's saving that one for our new PC!

Well, that's actually an Anders smile, not a Cullen smile. But definitely not enough smiling.

Really? I'm sure I've seen him pull that face a few times in game. I know he definitely does it when congratulating Hawke on redeeming the Amell family name.

I meant this one in particular is from an Anders swap:


I do think his smiles are too few and far between, though. I think you're right that we get a little one about Amell (I've never had an Amell import so far, so don't have any pics myself). Then, creepily enough, here's another when he talks about Meredith and how he wouldn't have liked her either when he was younger. LOL



But, yes, they're always very... restrained.

He makes a half smile when talking about the idea of not liking Meredith when he was younger? LOL! Aw, he's definitely wistful about his past. I suspect deep down he kinda misses the days when he was young and naive, before the Broken Circle events when he was just a regular Templar. It's those little reactions that makes me feel like he's overcome a lot of the issues he had in DA:O/the beginning of DA2.

I like to think he's saving his big doppy smiles for when he falls in love with the new hero in DA3 (wishful thinking lol.)

I have to go take my first exam today, but I wanted to come post something quick.  Ah, it's nice to see such a serious and handsome Cullen face first thing in the morning:wub:.   I'll post on your other posts when I get home.   

[R2s Muse]

Dunquixote wrote...

I have to go take my first exam today, but I wanted to come post something quick.  Ah, it's nice to see such a serious and handsome Cullen face first thing in the morning:wub:.   I'll post on your other posts when I get home.   

Cullen says, "Maker watch over you."

[R2s Muse]

LolaLei wrote...

Did you notice how Cullen didn't make any comments about Anders blowing it up? You would have throught he'd have strong opinions on that, yet he still lets Hawke and Anders leave even if you sided with the Mages lol.

Argh, yeah, thinking about just that for my fic right now. What would he say to Anders? I agree, that he should be pretty angry about it and probably that Anders should be punished for his crime. But, I can still justify in my mind that he would still let them go. I guess I sorta see Anders falling under the "respect for Hawke" umbrella right there, esp since Anders just helped off Meredith. That old western gun fight feel at the end of the pro-mage ending makes me imagine a word bubble above Cullen's head saying something macho and cool like, "We'll meet again my friends. Make no mistake about that..." and then letting them go to fight another day. [Cue good the bad and the ugly soundtrack]

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

LolaLei wrote...

Did you notice how Cullen didn't make any comments about Anders blowing it up? You would have throught he'd have strong opinions on that, yet he still lets Hawke and Anders leave even if you sided with the Mages lol.

Argh, yeah, thinking about just that for my fic right now. What would he say to Anders? I agree, that he should be pretty angry about it and probably that Anders should be punished for his crime. But, I can still justify in my mind that he would still let them go. I guess I sorta see Anders falling under the "respect for Hawke" umbrella right there, esp since Anders just helped off Meredith. That old western gun fight feel at the end of the pro-mage ending makes me imagine a word bubble above Cullen's head saying something macho and cool like, "We'll meet again my friends. Make no mistake about that..." and then letting them go to fight another day. [Cue good the bad and the ugly soundtrack]

LOL, maybe he was giving them the chance to escape before he has to hunt them down again. The ending to DA2 alone makes me think that his opinion towards the Templar order has drastically changed again. He's bound to be in the **** in DA3 just for letting Anders escape. Even if Hawke kills Anders and sided with the Templars I can imagine the fact that he wasn't able to catch Anders prior to him blowing the Chantry up will get him a severe bollocking from the Divine, or whoever he'll have to answer to.

I think, if we start seeing short stories and novels with Cullen turning up in them then there will be a high possibility that he'll be a companion in DA3.

[SamaraDraven]

R2s Muse wrote...

@SamaraDraven, just had to LOL at your comment about dumping deleted scenes in a notes file. I do the exact same thing, and it's even called notes.doc.

Really? So is mine! Awesome! I make a folder for every new fic and have the main doc I'm typing and a doc for each chapter where I add html coding for site posting and the notes file. Sometimes I go browse my notes and something that I previously wanted to use in one particular situation but removed because it didn't really work well, suddenly seems perfect for a different scene, or different characters, etc. I even have images in some of the fic folders for references when describing someone or something. That is, when I find an image that fits what I have in my head. Otherwise I make notes about that too so I don't forget details. Making timelines help me keep my continuuity of events straight. Perhaps I overthink my stories... It would explain the five false starts I have in my newest fic. LOL!

What's your process? If you don't mind me asking, that is.

Modifié par SamaraDraven, 19 avril 2012 - 04:24 .

[R2s Muse]

SamaraDraven wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

@SamaraDraven, just had to LOL at your comment about dumping deleted scenes in a notes file. I do the exact same thing, and it's even called notes.doc.

Really? So is mine! Awesome! I make a folder for every new fic and have the main doc I'm typing and a doc for each chapter where I add html coding for site posting and the notes file. Sometimes I go browse my notes and something that I previously wanted to use in one particular situation but removed because it didn't really work well, suddenly seems perfect for a different scene, or different characters, etc. I even have images in some of the fic folders for references when describing someone or something. That is, when I find an image that fits what I have in my head. Otherwise I make notes about that too so I don't forget details. Making timelines help me keep my continuuity of events straight. Perhaps I overthink my stories... It would explain the five false starts I have in my newest fic. LOL!

What's your process? If you don't mind me asking, that is.

Hee hee, I don't mind sharing... although, mine is still a work in progress since I've still only finished the one substantial story.  But, I do pretty much the same thing, especially now that I newly have multiple stories going at once. Each story has a folder, with a separate file for each working chapter and a notes file. In my notes file I include EVERYTHING I've been thinking, so idea snippets, timeline, outlines (that I never go back to, but writing them out once helps my process), and most  importantly, later or deleted scenes. I generally keep myself writing linearly, but when I get an idea for a later scene I'm excited about, I jot it down in my notes file. Once it becomes a more full-blown scene or chapter-sized I may move it to its own file, like "epilogue" or "seeker's death." I then have a separate folder called Background, where I save codexes and wiki entries and other research stuff for the whole DA universe.

And, I don't think it sounds like you overthink them! I think everyone has their own preference in terms of planning, but having a structure for the details of your story seems natural. Of course... I do detailed timelines as well. ahem.  And, it freakin' PAINS me that I can't map the Thedas calendar directly onto ours easily, so I can't just use months sometimes instead of general time cues like "weeks ago" "winter came early" blah blah. I mean, I know the RPG guide finally told us the months, but I've heard complicated theories about which months are which.

[LolaLei]

This page needs more Cullen!

[R2s Muse]

Ah, just love that one. Just as a suggestion, you might want to add something attributing it to Galagraphia. I always worry about original art getting separated from its artist, since it's so easy with google these days. I think that one's on her devart page?

[SamaraDraven]

R2s Muse wrote...

SamaraDraven wrote...

R2s Muse wrote...

@SamaraDraven, just had to LOL at your comment about dumping deleted scenes in a notes file. I do the exact same thing, and it's even called notes.doc.

Really? So is mine! Awesome! I make a folder for every new fic and have the main doc I'm typing and a doc for each chapter where I add html coding for site posting and the notes file. Sometimes I go browse my notes and something that I previously wanted to use in one particular situation but removed because it didn't really work well, suddenly seems perfect for a different scene, or different characters, etc. I even have images in some of the fic folders for references when describing someone or something. That is, when I find an image that fits what I have in my head. Otherwise I make notes about that too so I don't forget details. Making timelines help me keep my continuuity of events straight. Perhaps I overthink my stories... It would explain the five false starts I have in my newest fic. LOL!

What's your process? If you don't mind me asking, that is.

Hee hee, I don't mind sharing... although, mine is still a work in progress since I've still only finished the one substantial story.  But, I do pretty much the same thing, especially now that I newly have multiple stories going at once. Each story has a folder, with a separate file for each working chapter and a notes file. In my notes file I include EVERYTHING I've been thinking, so idea snippets, timeline, outlines (that I never go back to, but writing them out once helps my process), and most  importantly, later or deleted scenes. I generally keep myself writing linearly, but when I get an idea for a later scene I'm excited about, I jot it down in my notes file. Once it becomes a more full-blown scene or chapter-sized I may move it to its own file, like "epilogue" or "seeker's death." I then have a separate folder called Background, where I save codexes and wiki entries and other research stuff for the whole DA universe.

And, I don't think it sounds like you overthink them! I think everyone has their own preference in terms of planning, but having a structure for the details of your story seems natural. Of course... I do detailed timelines as well. ahem.  And, it freakin' PAINS me that I can't map the Thedas calendar directly onto ours easily, so I can't just use months sometimes instead of general time cues like "weeks ago" "winter came early" blah blah. I mean, I know the RPG guide finally told us the months, but I've heard complicated theories about which months are which.

I didn't know they told us the months. Thanks for the link.

In case anyone was interested, I unlocked my journal entries with my stalled fic. So far Cullen and Mage Hawke get along swimmingly. I haven't gotten to the angst. But if anyone wanted to take a look at it...

samara-draven.livejournal.com/tag/duty%20parallels

[LolaLei]

R2s Muse wrote...

Ah, just love that one. Just as a suggestion, you might want to add something attributing it to Galagraphia. I always worry about original art getting separated from its artist, since it's so easy with google these days. I think that one's on her devart page?

Is that where it came from? I just nicked it from other websites LOL.

[Dunquixote]

R2s Muse wrote...

Wow, I think I'm caught up now! A few things to add... that are sorta old now.

@Dunquixote, there are lots of resources on writing romance/sex scenes on the internets, and some deal directly with fanfic. General advice I've heard is read a lot of sex scenes and take note of what you like, verbiage you like, etc.

One resource I like, and it seems silly, but is from a How to  write a romance novel site on What makes a sex scene sizzle.

Also, Advice for writing romance and sex scenes which is specifically about fanfic.

@SamaraDraven, just had to LOL at your comment about dumping deleted scenes in a notes file. I do the exact same thing, and it's even called notes.doc.

@everyone, on questions you would ask Cullen, you guys are hilarious. My faves so far are "can I touch your hair?" and "can I see your talent tree?" LMAO I have nothing to add...

Thanks! Wow.  much appreciated.... 

 I feel a bit embarrassed though about this...x_X this is all new to me