Overview

This is a pretty big one. If it was in print, trees would protest and make signs out of... Oh, that's awful! https://imagine-magazine.org/releases/volume-129/

One summer, I decided I could get out of doing my summer reading project by claiming I had lost my library card. Back then, a library card was a manila card with a little metal identification plate embedded in it, so I figured losing it sounded serious and permanent. My story was that the librarian would not let me borrow anything without it, which meant I had been completely unable to get any of the books on the reading list. I practiced the excuse until I sounded genuinely disappointed. On the first day of school, I explained the whole unfortunate situation to my teacher. She listened patiently and then asked, “Why didn’t you have them look up your name and make you a replacement card?” I had not prepared for that. She explained that replacing a lost card cost about fifty cents and only took a few minutes. She knew this because she had tried the exact same excuse when she was a kid. Her own teacher had seen through it immediately and sent her back to the library with whatever the replacement fee was back then. Then my teacher reached into her desk, placed two quarters in front of me, and said, “I believe the library is still open after school.” That was when I learned teachers were once kids too—and they have had years to improve the traps their teachers used on them. LOL!

It's the 15th everyone! You remember what that means, right? Right?!? ::giggle:: https://imagine-magazine.org/releases/volume-128/

Fortunately, I never had a reading list assigned from school. They only get kids interested in reading long enough to pull a bait-and-switch and suck all of the joy out of it. Instead, I spent my time reading independently. Alex Sanchez and Brent Hartinger were big on my list. I also enjoyed reading Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. A book that I wish had been published earlier, though, is The Island of Beyond, by Elizabeth Atkinson, which I think I've mentioned before. I always make a point to read it at least once during the summer.

So I guess you could say I was on the "Look but don't be seen list" even though there were a couple of situations on the books that proved that I could probably have done just a bit more. To paint a better picture I can say that there was one person in particular that I realized I had a total crush on in the 4th grade. We were inseparable but, I was afraid to suggest doing any more than just hanging out and playing whatever sport he was in to at the time. The occasional adult magazine induced playtime would happen down the road but back then, I knew that summer would mean staying at our adopted aunt's with two boys totally into "Truth, Dare, or Consequences" and nothing was off the table. But, I really wanted my friend to get in on it, for obvious reasons. I had even greased the wheels with my mother, my aunt, and even talked to him to see if he would want to stay at the beach for a couple weeks. As school was coming to a close and we made our plans, I really thought the stars were aligning on this trip until his parents announced that they had decided to go on their own trip and they wanted their son to go with them. So for the first time in my life, I let myself hope that I could go a little further with a friend and maybe become a little more but, it fell apart and made me feel that maybe that was a line I couldn't cross. This same crush is someone I have spoken of before and there are plenty of stories where two "straight" friends played around and experimented. But, had he known that I would have gone all in, I can't guarantee I'd have half of the memories that I do today as a result. So, I started out once hoping for a relationship and every year to follow, just to find someone who was willing to help me build up some pretty wild memories, even if it was only as a straight friend who was curious enough to play around. It was fun but always had to end at some point, which never felt good at all. But then again, there was always the next summer

@Myr I forgot to poke you to ask you to read the plaque outside the totally imagined main lobby our imaginary cast works from in the Magazine. I know we've had our differences over the years but, I wanted to both honor Comicality's absolute appreciation for you giving him a home for his work for over two decades, and let you know that after he passed, I could not thank you enough for your help and support as I stumbled to get my footing again to give all three communities over two years to heal before closing the imaginary doors on this final Comsie project. It was not easy to get started and, was like reopening the wound once a month ever since for me Thank you for making all this possible, from me, the remaining "staff", and all those who read or participated in all that we accomplished in his memory. He will forever be missed but continues to give us all a smile and his trademark "Seezya!" in all that he has left us. ::HUGZ::

For many students, the final days of school were filled with dreams of sleeping in, riding bikes, hanging out with friends, and enjoying a glorious couple of months without homework. Then, just as freedom seemed within reach, a teacher would hand out the dreaded Summer Reading List. Suddenly, your carefully planned schedule of doing absolutely nothing had to compete with a list of books and the promise that a report would be ready to be turned in when school resumed. Some students actually enjoyed finding a good book and spending part of their summer reading it. Others selected the shortest title available, read just enough to survive the assignment, typically with only a week or less left before summer vacation ended or, rushing through it the day after school let out and spending the rest of the summer pretending the whole thing never happened. Of course, there were always the brave souls who attempted to avoid the assignment entirely. Maybe you claimed your dog ate the book, even though the dog had never shown the slightest interest in literature ::grin:: Perhaps you insisted that a mysterious sprinkler accident had transformed your report into papier-mâché, or that an unexpected encounter with a rogue beach wave had tragically carried your notes out to sea. No matter how clever the excuse seemed at the time, teachers always appeared to possess some sort of supernatural ability to see right through it. So this month's question is: when summer vacation arrived and the Summer Reading List appeared, were you the eager reader, the bare-minimum survivor, or the master excuse-maker who tried to escape the assignment altogether? 💜

London…. https://gayauthors.org/story/mrm/the-seducer/50 https://gayauthors.org/story/mrm/the-seducer/51 https://gayauthors.org/story/mrm/the-seducer/52

How often does one issue look back at the past, ahead to the future, and breaks the barrier between fiction and reality? I now know of once https://imagine-magazine.org/releases/volume-127/

Hi everyone! Just a quick message to touch base and let you all know that I'll probably be late with each issue as we get closer to August. (Just like I am this month 🫣) In the last two years, I've really wanted to put in the work to make Comicality proud from where ever he may be watching from. With the feedback I've received and the insane amount of traffic the magazine is still experiencing, retiring it to me feels like such a betrayal to everything that we have built here. So I'm working really hard to create something that will be a gift from us to you all, that will hopefully carry everything that we have become into the future as we retire this project, while at the same time allowing it's "IMAGINED" existence to go on in every one of our imaginations, just like every unfinished story from Comicality himself will most likely live on within each and every one of us. Comicality himself and this specific project have impacted my life in a way I never expected so this "gift" is as much for me as it is for you all, even if the workload just made an impossible schedule 100 times worse for the next three months. I really hope it comes out the way I envision it and if it does, even though it will be ending when it turns 15, it won't completely end... (Yes, I will start seeing a therapist after all this as even I am questioning my own sanity at this point 🤭) Hope to see you all there 💜

Summer was something that I always had mixed emotions about. Living on an isolated rural road, it meant that I had no other kids to act as a "buffer" between myself and my family at home. No summer romance was in my cards. No cute boys I could crush on, sadly. On the other hand, it meant that I could visit my friend, Jessie, at his house pretty much whenever I wanted. As long as it didn't rain, but sometimes even then, I'd still walk the mile-and-a-half down the road to his house. As far as I can recall, Jessie was the first person I came out to, and the first to support me unconditionally.

I wish that we could have covered a few anime or manga stories in our book reviews. These titles, No. 6 in particular, have some pretty nuanced portrayal of LGBTQ+ people. La Esperança, by Chigusa Kawai No. 6, by Atsuko Asano Tokyo Ghoul, by Sui Ishida Wandering Son, by Takako Shimura Our Dreams at Dusk, by Yuhki Kamatani Aside from that, there are some truly spectacular anime soundtracks out in the world that deserve to be shared. Tokyo Ghoul Bubble (film) Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Black Butler Terror in Resonance Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

When I was 13 or so, I had a thing for my best friend. I loved when he took his shirt off, because I liked looking at his chest. His nipples were so pink and tiny. And you could count. Every. Single. One. Of his ribs. The really weird thing about my friend, was how sensitive his skin was. If I poked him gently in the side, he'd flinch like I rubbed him with sandpaper. And if I tickled him, you'd have thought I hooked a car battery onto his nipples! LOL!! It was so weird! But, obviously, I tried not to do that. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable. Too much. *snickers* Secretly, I wondered: "If his ribs are that sensitive... then what about his you-know-what?" Sadly, life took us in opposite directions, and I never had the chance to "do anything" with him. After that, I got over my heartbreak when school resumed in September and suddenly, there was, like, an all-you-can-eat-with-your-eyes boy buffet at the middle school. *silence* .... .... *more silence* ... ... *cracks up laughing* Sorry, guys! I just realized how horny that made me sound, and I swear I wasn't! Really!!

Sun kissed blondes are the hottest. Especially soccer players. Why are they always the soccer players? Their bodies glistening in the sun like that all sweaty and rippling…ugh

(This is being posted early to hopefully give more time for everyone to give an answer to be posted in the magazine. August will be the last one so I'm really hoping for everyone to take advantage and leave their marks as when it's gone, it's gone. I'll probably be posting July early as well but for now, I really hope to see you in this one ☺️) Well, this is it. The final "Comsie Q&A" question. It's been quite a few years of us all sharing a part of our lives with each other. Most of us feeling so alone on the way in; only to learn years later that we were anything but that, at least in shared experiences. For that we have Comicality to thank for providing the beacon that for over two decades drew us all here to his "IMAGINE Magazine"and even "Shack Outback" to gather and become a family. IMAGINE Magazine has shown us that in his memory, his totally unfinished dream can continue in what ever way we want it to. We may have lost his daily presence two years ago but, his absolutely unfinished dream is what led me to this final question: (I'm going to post this one really early to hopefully give everyone a chance to get in on it.) Throughout the course of the 15 years that IMAGINE Magazine has existed and the literal decades Comicalty's Shack Outback has been in our lives, Comicality turned IMAGINE Magazine into a home featuring some of the most interesting "Shack" style content in one place. Stories, Jokes, Musicians, Actors, Artists, Television, Movies, Tabloidesque Situations, and Real Life stories. We have spent years sharing everything that we have found interesting and fun and in that will in the end have a collection of 130 issues to look back on and relive whenever we want. But did we cover it ALL? Not a chance! There are so many who could have made it onto our pages. So much that has been created by others that we could have or even should have covered. If we went on forever, we'd probably still miss some of your favorites. S0 the final "Comsie Q&A" question will be: What do you wish we covered and didn't? Maybe you have a favorite artist that you would have liked to see in these pages to give them some advertising. Maybe a song that is stuck in your head should be stuck in ours as well. Let us know who we missed and in doing so, you will be adding them to the pages of the final issue of IMAGINE Magazine. A pretty cool send off that I think Comsie would have approved of. I'll even include some content from the talent you mention with your response when possible. 💜

When I was about 13 or 14, we were living with my Aunt and her three kids. That happened often and if my parents were having trouble or longer term if they were separated. This summer, we were living out there full time and honestly, I loved it out there. Even more so that summer. I remember there was one day I was messing around in the street by myself out in front of our house on a skateboard when the most beautiful blond, surfer looking kid about my age came up and started asking questions about what tricks I could do and if it would be cool if he came over with his deck and hung out. Of course I quickly wiped the drool off my chin and nodded my head like an idiot, LOL! This was in early spring so, we weren't dressed down for summer and since he had just moved to out little North East town from another one, it would be sooner than most for all of us to shed the long pants and sleeves... I of course had already imagined what he looked like without the covering and honestly, I did not expect him to one up my fantasy image of him, LOL! We lived near the ocean so one of our chores as the worker boys in the house was to go out to the muscle beds at low tide and dig worms to use as bait for our uncle who owned and ran a fishing boat. Of course, when the new kid asked if he could join and help I was fast to say hell yeah. To this day, the sight of him coming out of waist deep water in the skimpy white gym shorts he was wearing still gives me a shiver. Picture any shaggy blond surfer/skater from the 80s in next to nothing that may as well have been nothing when they were wet and, you'll know why today his image is still burned into my memory. Unfortunately, he moved away before winter came but, for that one summer I was 100% in lust with the absolute hottest kid in the neighborhood. Did he catch me looking, sometimes. Did he make a big deal out of it, not really. I'd kill to know why to be honest. ::grin::

As summer starts creeping closer, we want to hear from you about those younger years when you were still figuring out that you were gay, or at least beginning to suspect that your brain had been quietly filing certain boys under “important research.” ::grin:: Did summer mean looking forward to seeing a crush at camp, the pool, the beach, the neighborhood, or wherever your heart had decided to make things unnecessarily complicated? Or were your big summer plans less about romance and more about hoping nobody noticed too much while you continued the exhausting Olympic sport of “acting totally normal”? Many of us are gold medalists unfortunately There are no wrong answers here. Maybe your summer memories are sweet, awkward, hilarious, stressful, confusing, or all of the above before lunch. For many of us, there still aren’t neat conclusions tied up with a sunny little bow. Of course life would have been so much easier if it were. So for this month's question, we ask: when you were young and summer was on the way, were you hoping for a crush-filled adventure, were trying to hide who you were deep down, or somehow doing both at the exact same time? 💜

Unavoidably, unapologetically, unbelievably... ON TIME(ish)! Hehehe! (Yup!) https://imagine-magazine.org/releases/volume-126/

Well there was this one boy…that was so into fitness and sports at like 12-14 he had a flawless chest and six pack. Lighter skin that had softness look to it. I just wanted to constantly stroke it. He had braces a while, then one day just a retainer. His lips looked so soft and he had a small very faint smattering of freckles under his sky blue eyes that I noticed went nearly navy blue at times. His hair was almost a chestnut brown and looked so soft too. He kept it in a side part and had a natural set . God he was beautiful.

We all remember that first stretch of warm weather each year when winter finally loosened its grip? Suddenly, heavy coats disappeared, sleeves got shorter, and everywhere you looked there was a little more skin and thin clothing than there had been just weeks before. When heavy coats get replaced with teeshirts, thick snow suits get replaced with shorts, and our imagination is suddenly replaced with a pretty awesome reality! For a lot of us growing up, it wasn’t just about the weather—it was about that quiet, electric awareness of finally not needing to use our imaginations as much. Being able to enjoy the show, and trying very hard not to make it obvious most of the time. For you maybe it was a matter of catching yourself staring when gym moved back outside, or pretending to be deeply interested in something else while very much trying not to look at someone walking by in a tank top. It was a time for losing your attention at finally being able to see that perfect set of legs or maybe getting treated to a pair of shorts that did little to hide the shape of that perfect butt. You remember that butt, right? Yeah, I see that grin. Hehehe! S0 this month, we’re asking: what are your memories of those early moments of noticing, looking, and maybe trying not to get caught staring? Was there a specific time or place that stands out, or a moment that still makes you smile (or maybe even cringe a little)? Share your story with us. 💜

Wow, looks like this question wan't a popular one on this forum Maybe next time... ** When I was A kid, I had too many responsibilities at home. Two younger siblings to watch out for, an overloaded mother who worked full time to keep a roof over our head and a father who started out an angry alcoholic but ended out letting his alcoholism destroy what good health he could have had, making him like another younger sibling I had to watch out for to help keep my mother from getting overloaded. You know... following about a decade of the man beating it into me that I was worthless and a disappointment. (Good Times) ::groan:: Winter was the worst as we would be stuck inside the house the majority of time but in the spring, I got a break. The kids could play in the yard or go to a friend's house to play. I occasionally got to hang out with one of my best friends, even if it was just to ride bikes, skate, or toss a ball around (or at each other, LOL!) I secretly had a crush on him so I hoarded each and every memory I could with him until we eventually moved away and I lost touch. Of the memories I still look back on, the most memorable were the times we spent when the weather finally let us go outside again. To this day, spring reminds me of him and makes it that much more special.

Something is off with Billy… https://gayauthors.org/story/mrm/brandon-smiling-from-the-billy-chase-chronicles-3/28 https://gayauthors.org/story/mrm/brandon-smiling-from-the-billy-chase-chronicles-3/29 https://gayauthors.org/story/mrm/brandon-smiling-from-the-billy-chase-chronicles-3/30

A rainbow, lots of green and gold, and cool stuff to read! Does it get any better than this? 🤭 https://imagine-magazine.org/releases/volume-125/

If so, that is one spectacular corner 😉

I fear that might be true @JeffsFort. Comsie may have written himself into a corner, bless him….