I'm really Barbara and I don't mind (much) getting called that, especially because I hate all the usual 'cute' abbreviations of that name (Babs, Bärbel, Barbie anyone?), but ever since I saw that episode of "Riptide" with Geena Davis in it ("Raiders of the Lost Sub", S1,E13), I got stuck with Baba. Go watch that episode if you need to know how it's pronounced, it's well worth the trouble.

You can find me on Twitter @Babatomyfriends though I don't post much there. I also keep a blog at asthm[.]antville[.]org (yes I know, funny URL - long story there). The blog's mostly in German, because that's what I am at home, even though I love reading, writing, talking and even thinking in English. I don't know why. Just one of those things.

And yes, I'm a die-hard Mondler fan - for me theirs is still the most amazing love story arc ever and I just love those two to death. So you won't get any other pairings from me, promised. I'm somewhat of a canon stickler though, so except for post series stories there'll be no AU stories from me. (I think.)

So it’s been more than four years after I joined here, or about five years after I first started digging through the archive trying to find Mondler canon stories and finally realizing I needed to try some writing myself. And now after all that time I’m still having so much fun here, with the reading as well as the writing, the excitement of posting and watching the traffic stats, and not to forget getting to meet and talk to so many other readers and fellow writers all over the world.

And receive reviews. While they still amaze me no end, after over four years here on the board I’ve gotten a little more used to getting them, and also a little more equanimous about the ones that don’t agree with me – be they ones that are patronizing me or at least feel that way, or those that want to tell me how my story should be written and what should or shouldn't be in it, those that don’t like the story because it’s not about their ship (seriously?) or some other nonsensical reason, or those that scream for updates when I’ve only just posted the chapter. I know they're called 'reviews' and that criticism can also be a good thing, but it's my belief that here in fanfiction any 'review' that doesn't help the writer shouldn't be posted at all. Period. In truth, I haven’t received that many of those disagreeable reviews so far, and I’m old enough not to let them really get to me, but I’ve seen enough of my friends and fellow writers suffer greatly from getting these idiotic comments. It really makes me so mad to see how often their motivation for writing is spoiled and all the fun they have with it stolen away by such careless, egotistical, throwaway comments. So here’s my heartfelt request: when you write a review, reread it before sending it and ask yourself if it will help the writer, encourage her even and make her happy. If it won’t, then think again before sending it, and consider if it wouldn’t be better to send it as a PM. Or not at all. After all, if you don’t like the story, you’re free to not read it. It’s that simple.

My friend Fictionwriter91 had the idea in her profile to list those stories she especially wants to recommend and not let them go under in a Favorite Story section that gets more and more cluttered and endless the more stories accumulate there. Especially the older stories tend to simply vanish from view after some time. So here, in no particular order, are some stories from my own Favorite Story collection that left a lasting impression with me and thus deserve special recommendation - and maybe even a review if you can bring yourself to write a review for an ‘old’ story (I know how hard that is) or at least a ‘favorite’. Trust me, the author will love you for it. I certainly would!

- ‘Conversations After and Before’ by BobtheRat - Canon stories about Phoebe and Mike are rare here and I’ve never read one that captures their characters and their relationship so well as this one.

- ‘The True Story of Chandler Bing’ by Jennifer10 – also the other five characters, all writing the canon as if it wasn’t a sitcom but a soap or, well, a True Story, showing how each event and feature in the canon could have another, often much darker side to it.

- ‘Mac and Cheese (with cut-up hotdogs)’ by SomewhereBeyondReality – the best and most convincing explanation of why Chandler and not Richard is best for Monica that I have read so far. Plus every time I reread it I get insanely jealous about all the ideas and original arguments in it too…

- ‘The One with the Unfinished Business’ by Fictionwriter91 – even if I wasn’t such a sucker for ghost stories I’d still list it here, for originality as well as for the great writing style.

- ‘Secrets and Revelations’ by SimplyMondler – I’m forever amazed at all the ideas about all the alternative ( and highly entertaining) ways Mondler could have been found out during the Secret Period.

- ‘You’ by StarbuckMeggie – actually all her stories deserve to be listed here, so after long deliberating I decided to list this one because for all that I don’t like AUs as a rule, this one really moved me most of all.

- ‘The One with the End’ by Kimprobable – or (‘Friends and Zombies’ as I would have called it) and which against all my expectations turned out to be a truly memorable story.

- 'The Space in Between' by CamilleCM - an AU story that started to grow on me with each chapter. Even if it hadn't turned back to canon at the end, it still would have won me over completely.

… to be continued …