and i should have thanked you for sharing your perceptions with me! i've grown [at least as a writer] since that point, and find that i do best at finishing the pieces in my own way first, and then submitting them only to blackmare_9's discerning eye for things that sound 'off.' i'm lucky, i know, not to need a formal beta and a lot of correction and direction and such--but i certainly do appreciate that you were there when i most needed it!