Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-24927388-20140514233536/@comment-24927388-20140515173338

NathanLeachman wrote: Learning from the best, *cough*Nooth*cough*, I know that this is still wrong. Of course, it's good to base things from personal experiences, however, you can't just expect us to know what they are. How in the hell are we going to know that half the students in Central Oregon are meth heads. And that that a student won't be kicked out of school for doing meth. You need to add these things in your story, but other than that and what Resident covered, this was a nice story. I did say when half of your town cooks their own meth. But I couldve went deeper into that. Where Im from is Irrelevant to the story, I was just using that as an example of why Alistor possibly wouldnt have been kicked out of school. I researched areas in Minnesota with the worst Meth problems, and Beltrami County was one of the highest. I wish I could give you a reason as to why the school doesnt take this problem more serious, I never understood either. Ive seen that drug ruin the lives of a lot of people, and the effects of it are extremely clear, so I could only speculate why it wouldnt be prohibited. In my own perspective, and the perspective of the Narrator we were just students, only the staff would have those answers. However I understand the concern about that, and the scepticism behind the schools actions. Something that is fairly common to me due to my environment, may be hard to grasp for others; and I need to learn how to put myself in the shoes of the reader instead of assuming they've had the same experience. These are things I will work on. You both have been extremely helpful, and once again thank you for the tips. By the way even in the event of a sinical entity haunting your dreams, I do not condone the use of this drug.

Just throwing this out there in case there were any questions as to the significance of the name (I changed the spelling to keep it from being extremely obvious). And also possible reasons why the narrator would have been affected by the spirit, with no prior history of drug abuse or connection to Alistor himself.

The word ‘Alastor’ means ‘avenger’. In Greek mythology Alastor is associated with the sins that pass down generations from fathers to sons. In the Roman mythology, he is notorious as the evil genius of the household who entices residents to commit sins. He is often associated with family feuds.

Alastor is linked with Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution and is said to be demonic in vengeance. Alastor also acts against wrongdoer’s successors if the original culprit dies before receiving his due share of suffering. Alastor is supposed to be very cruel.