[Shadowgod] Dreams & Clipped Wings

[Graeme]

Chapter one is online

 

Click here for the index page for Dreams and Clipped Wings

 

Great start, Steve!

[wildone]

Steve,

 

Great first chapter!!!

 

The one thing that I noticed the most while reading it was just how much I truly miss reading your work. For a first chapter you drew me in and made me want to find a button on the bottom to go to the next chapter right away.

 

Your use of the flashback and giving us insight into the struggles that Cody is facing will surely keep us all reading this story.

 

The way you ended the chapter, I thought was great. You let us know about some of the struggles that Cody has been dealing with since Jacob, but I felt that this is definitely not a sequel to LiS, but an entirely new story to stand on its own.

 

I can only wait patiently for the next chapter, and maybe click on every word you post for the next while to see if it is a hidden link .

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

[C James]

The flashbacks were very well done, and as usual, your scene-painting is the best!

 

This looks like an exceptional story, and I think it's obvious that Joe has feelings for Cody.

 

Cody certainly has some issues... Are they guilt? Or is it deeper? I'm gueesing that a big part of it is not the guilt per se, but his disgust over how he acted.

 

Very tricky situation1 I can;t wait to see what you do with this. It's also great to see you writing again!

[Tiger]

Wow! It's like Cody is a completely different person. He's definitely taken some bumps and bruises over the years. It will be interesting to see what develops between Joe and him.

[BeaStKid]

Steve, once again you've given me a reason as to why I like you as an author (not that I do not like the way you look )

 

The first chapter is really good and gives a great insight into Cody's psyche at the moment. I had no idea he would be so scarred after the locker room incident. He looked pretty okay to me in LiS.

 

DaCW is in itself a distinct story and I'm really looking forward to more of it.

 

BeaStKid

[Benji]

Steve, once again you've given me a reason as to why I like you as an author (not that I do not like the way you look )

 

The first chapter is really good and gives a great insight into Cody's psyche at the moment. I had no idea he would be so scarred after the locker room incident. He looked pretty okay to me in LiS.

 

DaCW is in itself a distinct story and I'm really looking forward to more of it.

 

BeaStKid

 

 

..........Damn, I'm gonna have to re-read LIS!!

[BeaStKid]

..........Damn, I'm gonna have to re-read LIS!!

no need. Just read the first few posts of this thread

[Graeme]

The first chapter is really good and gives a great insight into Cody's psyche at the moment. I had no idea he would be so scarred after the locker room incident. He looked pretty okay to me in LiS.

I don't think it was the locker room incident that scarred him. It was the entire situation, and how he felt he abandoned Jacob to save himself. The locker room incident was only one example of how he didn't stand up for what he felt was right.

 

I think it makes Cody a very human character. He knows right and wrong, but when he was sixteen he encountered a situation that wasn't that black-and-white. He's torn because he felt he did something wrong, but he needed to do that to survive -- he would probably have been worse off if he had done what he now wishes he'd done.

 

I found it interesting at the end that he's still keeping secrets. There's the doctor's appointment, but I'm also interested in whether he was joking with Joe when he said that the boy he'd snuck down from his room wasn't Jonathan. Is he keeping secrets from Jonathan, too, or was he just playing with Joe?

[BeaStKid]

I don't think it was the locker room incident that scarred him. It was the entire situation, and how he felt he abandoned Jacob to save himself. The locker room incident was only one example of how he didn't stand up for what he felt was right.

 

I think it makes Cody a very human character. He knows right and wrong, but when he was sixteen he encountered a situation that wasn't that black-and-white. He's torn because he felt he did something wrong, but he needed to do that to survive -- he would probably have been worse off if he had done what he now wishes he'd done.

 

I found it interesting at the end that he's still keeping secrets. There's the doctor's appointment, but I'm also interested in whether he was joking with Joe when he said that the boy he'd snuck down from his room wasn't Jonathan. Is he keeping secrets from Jonathan, too, or was he just playing with Joe?

I meant that only, Graeme.. you are good at reading people...

[Camy]

That's a great first chapter, Steve.

 

You dangled the worm and caught me on the hook ... again!

 

Camy

[Masked Monkey]

That's a great first chapter, Steve.

 

You dangled the worm and caught me on the hook ... again!

 

Camy

 

I missed steve dangling his worm .... damnit ... I work too much

 

:king: Dr. Mr. Snow "Snoopy" Dog

[Tiger]

..........Damn, I'm gonna have to re-read LIS!!

I might have to read it again as well. It's my favorite story from the site.

[C James]

LiS is absolutely well worth a re-read, anytime!

 

I'm intrigued by Cody and Joe. Joe's responses sure seem to show an interest to me.

 

I think Joe knows Cody is gay, (the fact that he knows that.Cody is sleeping with guys counts as a fairly decent clue that he might pick up on ) and his responses sure seem to reflect interest, but also the intent to keep it to himself.

 

I know it will be a long and torturous road through the high and lofty peaks, skirting the myriad of malevolent precipices at every harrowing turn, but I think, well, hope at least, that those two get together. So, in my counterpart to Shadowgod's SPiCE movement,

I'm founding a group for Cody and Joe.. Which would be initialized as.. CJ!

 

But, then again, What about Jonathon? And whomever else Cody is seeing?

[Masked Monkey]

I think Joe knows Cody is gay

Cody is gay

[Graeme]

I'm intrigued by Cody and Joe. Joe's responses sure seem to show an interest to me.

 

I think Joe knows Cody is gay, (the fact that he knows that.Cody is sleeping with guys counts as a fairly decent clue that he might pick up on ) and his responses sure seem to reflect interest, but also the intent to keep it to himself.

I agree there is an interest, but it may not be a sexual interest. I read Joe as being concerned for Cody, like any good friend would, but he's unsure on how to help him. He senses that there is something wrong with Cody. The doctor's appointment, and Cody's lie about it, reinforces to Joe that there's something going wrong, but I didn't see any indication beyond being worried for his friend.

[BeaStKid]

I agree there is an interest, but it may not be a sexual interest. I read Joe as being concerned for Cody, like any good friend would, but he's unsure on how to help him. He senses that there is something wrong with Cody. The doctor's appointment, and Cody's lie about it, reinforces to Joe that there's something going wrong, but I didn't see any indication beyond being worried for his friend.

But what about him blushing at Cody's innuendos??

[Graeme]

But what about him blushing at Cody's innuendos??

The first blush as embarrassment at the unintended innuendo of his own comment (about liking the front better).

 

The second blush was in relation to Cody's question, "Jealous?" The blush indicated he was, but was that jealousy because he wasn't bedding Cody, or jealousy that Cody was getting more sex than he was? It could easily be the later -- Joe has a girlfriend, after all, and can't be expected to sleep around as much as Cody is implied to do. Please note we still don't know if Cody is sleeping around. The boy may have been Jonathan and Cody is just playing with Joe's mind.

[C James]

The first blush as embarrassment at the unintended innuendo of his own comment (about liking the front better).

 

The second blush was in relation to Cody's question, "Jealous?" The blush indicated he was, but was that jealousy because he wasn't bedding Cody, or jealousy that Cody was getting more sex than he was? It could easily be the later -- Joe has a girlfriend, after all, and can't be expected to sleep around as much as Cody is implied to do. Please note we still don't know if Cody is sleeping around. The boy may have been Jonathan and Cody is just playing with Joe's mind.

 

I don't see it that way myself... WHY would Joe prefer Cody's front? That's one heck of a slip. Maybe the deal here is that at some point something has already happened between them?

 

This is perplexing. I got the vibe that Joe has feelings for Cody, but that could be misdirection. Or just wishful thinking.

 

I also notice that this exchange between Cody and Joe was at the end of the chapter, leaving us all HANGING and wondering what the situation really is.

[Graeme]

I also notice that this exchange between Cody and Joe was at the end of the chapter, leaving us all HANGING and wondering what the situation really is.

Look out, I think CJ is going to accuse someone of ending the chapter with a cliffhanger... :wacko:

 

One thing we haven't learnt yet is what happened with Cody's plans to go to college. That obviously hasn't happened. Why? In LiS, his grandmother seemed supportive, even if his parents weren't. I think that story said he had been hoping for a scholarship -- could it be that he simply couldn't afford a college education (maybe because his parents wouldn't help pay for it)?

 

Waiting for the next chapter....

[C James]

Look out, I think CJ is going to accuse someone of ending the chapter with a cliffhanger... :wacko:

 

One thing we haven't learnt yet is what happened with Cody's plans to go to college. That obviously hasn't happened. Why? In LiS, his grandmother seemed supportive, even if his parents weren't. I think that story said he had been hoping for a scholarship -- could it be that he simply couldn't afford a college education (maybe because his parents wouldn't help pay for it)?

 

Waiting for the next chapter....

 

Well, ummm, it *IS* a cliffhanger. So, I suppose, I should declare it as one.

If they questins over Joe aren't enough, I'll point out a second cliffhanger; Shadowgod doesn't tell us which channel they changed to.

 

Hrmmm, as for the college issue, good point, but as I recall, it is far different to have plans than to be able to enact them. Also, did the narration say Cody was planning on college, or did Cody? The only reference to it I can recall is this passage from LiS 21:

 

"It's chill," Cody shrugged absently. "I'm outta here at the end of the summer."

 

"Pennsylvania?" Jacob asked with an amount of trepidation, knowing full well that the two of them had planned to attend Penn State together before their world changed without their consent.

 

"You remembered," Cody smiled, thrilled that Jacob had. "Are you still going?" he asked, even though he already knew somehow that Jacob wouldn't be.

 

"Nah," Jacob sighed with a touch of remorse over the dream that died back in that high school locker-room. "I never played football again, never got a chance at the scholarship."

 

He doesn't actually say he's going to college. He says he's out of there at the end of summer, and then expresses surprise that Jacob remembered Pennsylvania. Cody doesn't actually say he's going there. Is it implied? Sure, but not stated.

 

That's my take on it anyway.

 

BTW, this seems to nail down the time line for DnCW. LiS was two years after "The incident" and DnCW is three.

[shadowgod]

Steve,

 

Great first chapter!!!

 

The one thing that I noticed the most while reading it was just how much I truly miss reading your work. For a first chapter you drew me in and made me want to find a button on the bottom to go to the next chapter right away.

 

Your use of the flashback and giving us insight into the struggles that Cody is facing will surely keep us all reading this story.

 

The way you ended the chapter, I thought was great. You let us know about some of the struggles that Cody has been dealing with since Jacob, but I felt that this is definitely not a sequel to LiS, but an entirely new story to stand on its own.

 

Steve

 

Thanks It's been far too long since I have been able to write Fiction. thats not to say everything I have been writing has been non-fiction though

 

This looks like an exceptional story, and I think it's obvious that Joe has feelings for Cody.

 

Cody certainly has some issues... Are they guilt? Or is it deeper? I'm gueesing that a big part of it is not the guilt per se, but his disgust over how he acted.

 

Very tricky situation! I can't wait to see what you do with this. It's also great to see you writing again!

 

Yeah Cody does... and there is only more to come.

 

Wow! It's like Cody is a completely different person. He's definitely taken some bumps and bruises over the years. It will be interesting to see what develops between Joe and him.

 

Hrmm... Im not sure about the completely different person from what we saw in LiS. there saw the cover, with DnCW we'll get to look inside the book.

 

Steve, once again you've given me a reason as to why I like you as an author (not that I do not like the way you look )

 

The first chapter is really good and gives a great insight into Cody's psyche at the moment. I had no idea he would be so scarred after the locker room incident. He looked pretty okay to me in LiS.

 

DnCW is in itself a distinct story and I'm really looking forward to more of it.

 

Thanks beast! and... are you telling me you've never played at being happy when you weren't?

 

..........Damn, I'm gonna have to re-read LIS!!

 

Me too... what is that about? I was writing up 2 the other night and I was all Damn! what color are his eyes. Needless to say I had to scour every scene with Cody or reference to Cody in LiS....

 

Blue if you were wondering.

 

That's a great first chapter, Steve.

 

You dangled the worm and caught me on the hook ... again!

 

Camy

 

My Pleasure Camy, definately my pleasure

 

I missed steve dangling his worm .... damnit ... I work too much

 

HAHAHAHA Next time pay closer attention or you just might miss it again

 

For those of you that missed it...

 

Edit: picture removed

 

 

I might have to read it again as well. It's my favorite story from the site

 

Thanks Tiger, I have to give yours a read one of these days I don't have thirty things to do. It's on the list don't worry

 

I'll keep my mouth out of the rest of the speculation, Graeme keeps watch over these woods now, so I fear slipping up.

 

However, I did notice Cj being the ornary goat he is and implying something that was already dismissed elsewhere, and before the goat brought it up.

 

Almost done with the second Chapter Gents, thanks for the great posts!

 

Steve

[Bondwriter]

Well, ummm, it *IS* a cliffhanger. So, I suppose, I should declare it as one.

Seconded. Flipping the channel leaves us utterly wondering what's up next. Admit it, CJ, you're proud of being the Eeeevil Queen of Cliffhangers. Little doubt Steve can actually outdo you, but he's got lessons to take from his master...

[BeaStKid]

Thanks beast! and... are you telling me you've never played at being happy when you weren't?

Steve

Now that I think...yeah I have...