[Duncan Ryder] How the Light Gets In

[Duncan Ryder]

Is HERE

Thanks to Gabriel for proofing, as always (and if there are errors its because I tend to do a little more rewriting when it comes back...)

 

And thanks also to Cyn and Tracy for the gentle nudges...

[Conner]

Really a superb chapter, Duncan!

 

The way you described Josh's fragility in that last scene, it was just so moving. And Scott's words to him were so comforting, so caring, so tender. I'll be reading that scene again.

 

I found myself wanting to skip over Luc's thoughts, especially when he was recalling his suicide attempt, such hurt, such pain.

 

So everyone's a mess right now. Even the weather was lousy.

[Guest mizone40]

OH MY GOD!! What a fabulous chapter Duncan, esp. the last part with Josh & Scott. Thank you & your talent.

[MikeL]

Another great chapter, Duncan! It seems many of the characters are taking a long time to recover from their earlier wounds. Can Scott possibly heal all of them? I think not; someone else will need to rise above their own pain to soothe that of others. Can Matt do it for Luc? Will he realize that his own salvation resides in saving someone else?

 

I appreciate the care and thoroughness involved in your writing. I only wish we didn't have to wait so long between chapters. But, when the wait ends, it is always worth it. Thanks.

[Former Member]

It always amazes me at how easily I can connect with these characters. I've never had to experience what Josh, Luc, or Matt have gone through (thankfully), but I find myself identifying with them anyways. These characters just ring true.

 

That's a credit to you Duncan! You're amazing!

[Bob1010]

I have just finished chapter 12 and am feeling almost overwhelmed by the emotions that you convey so well. Luc's pain and vulnerability as he recalled the suicide was almost to much to take. The shit that happens in the lives of people that must be endured because there is no real reason for it and is why we need to be there to support and help sustain each others survival. The confrontation of Matt by Scott was quick and to the point, but said so much about Scott. Each character has their own issues and yet are there for each other when needed. Your stories and writing talent communicates that to us beautifully.

 

The final scene between Josh and Scott was so well done. The vulnerability and need of Josh being responded to by Scott because he can read all that so well in Josh. What a powerful love scene.

 

Thanks for sharing you talent with us through your stories.

Bob

[Cynical Romantic]

Averts eyes from the rest of the comments. Rushes off to read.

 

Dammit, Duncan, you would post this on a holiday when I'm out partying instead of home to read, wouldn't you?

 

Back soon with comments...

 

Edit: Another great chapter! So many questions answered here, so many new ones raised.

 

A few key moments:

 

Luc, a calm and cautious driver despite his Montreal roots

 

Heyyyyy! I resent - er - resemble that remark. (Yes, I'm a typical Montreal driver, swearing, speeding, honking, tailgating and all. But what else can you do in a city that's more like an obstacle course, what with potholes, perpetual construction, cyclists, double-parked cars and snowbanks?)

 

Anyway, Luc's PSA warnings to Brandon about talking on the phone while driving on icy roads are kinda sweet, in a protective sort of way. You know, it's funny, but the dynamic between Luc and Brandon was maybe the only one that hasn't really been explored yet. I've never even thought about it that much, and that in itself is intriguing.

 

I liked how you used hands as a constant thread throughout the chapter to express emotion. First with Luc touching Scott innocently and being jolted by it:

There it was. That little thrill

Edited July 1, 2009 by Cynical Romantic

[Duncan Ryder]

I found myself wanting to skip over Luc's thoughts, especially when he was recalling his suicide attempt, such hurt, such pain.

 

So everyone's a mess right now. Even the weather was lousy.

You aren't allowed to skip anything, Connor. Especially not the hurting bits...

And the weather in January in Nova Scotia is the perfect foil for pain...

[Duncan Ryder]

Another great chapter, Duncan! It seems many of the characters are taking a long time to recover from their earlier wounds. Can Scott possibly heal all of them? I think not; someone else will need to rise above their own pain to soothe that of others. Can Matt do it for Luc? Will he realize that his own salvation resides in saving someone else?

 

I appreciate the care and thoroughness involved in your writing. I only wish we didn't have to wait so long between chapters. But, when the wait ends, it is always worth it. Thanks.

Well...so far only 10 days have passed since the story opened... so a lot of chapters but only 10 days...

 

And another question to think about...can Luc do it for Matt?

 

Can we save ourselves by saving someone else?

[Duncan Ryder]

I have just finished chapter 12 and am feeling almost overwhelmed by the emotions that you convey so well. Luc's pain and vulnerability as he recalled the suicide was almost to much to take. The shit that happens in the lives of people that must be endured because there is no real reason for it and is why we need to be there to support and help sustain each others survival. The confrontation of Matt by Scott was quick and to the point, but said so much about Scott. Each character has their own issues and yet are there for each other when needed.

Yes, I believe that. That we must help one another muddle through, despite the bad stuff that happens to us. We can't let the shit that happens in our lives destroy us. We have to find a way to move on, to let the light back in, so to speak.

 

But I'm very interested in your comments about Scott.

 

I had a really interesting email from a reader who basically said that, while reading Everybody's Wounded, he was totally into Scott and Josh, but now in Light, outside Scott's point of view, he finds he doesn't really like Scott anymore. That Scott is by far the least wounded of the men, the strongest and so best able to cope... and he found that Scott is rather... well... judgmental.

 

I'd love to know what others think...

 

Was Scott too hard on Matt?

 

Should Scott feel threatened at all by Matt? (Remember where this story started...with David dumping Scott for another guy...)

[Duncan Ryder]

So much stuff to reply to here... would someone please explain to me how to make the darned quote feature work??? I just did wierd stuff and hope it works....

 

Heyyyyy! I resent - er - resemble that remark. (Yes, I'm a typical Montreal driver, swearing, speeding, honking, tailgating and all. But what else can you do in a city that's more like an obstacle course, what with potholes, perpetual construction, cyclists, double-parked cars and snowbanks?)

Well... I drive like a Torontonian...since I learned to drive in down town Toronto. My first lesson was in a standard on Parlaiment Street in rush hour, dodging cabs, hookers and drug addicts...

 

 

Anyway, Luc's PSA warnings to Brandon about talking on the phone while driving on icy roads are kinda sweet, in a protective sort of way. You know, it's funny, but the dynamic between Luc and Brandon was maybe the only one that hasn't really been explored yet. I've never even thought about it that much, and that in itself is intriguing.

They hardly know each other, really. They're connected by Scott...and to a lesser extent by Laura, who is in all the same classes and Scott and Luc and organized their study group.

 

I liked how you used hands as a constant thread throughout the chapter to express emotion.

I had no idea I'd done this! Seriously. It just happened. Don't you love it when that happens???

 

 

It was more that, for a fleeting moment, I had this vision of the fourth dimension being breached, and you as author trying to boss your characters around. "No, dammit, Matt, I told you, stop being so hung up on Josh, you're supposed to fall for Luc now. Remember Luc? Pretty Quebecois boy? Yeah, that's right. I'm the author and you're my characters and you'll damn well do as I say!" Haha.

 

 

The question is, will those stubborn characters listen?

Too funny....

 

One thing that surprised me a little was that there wasn't a scene from Bran's point of view when Laura got hurt. I mean, it's obvious he's upset, but we hear about it secondhand.

 

This is interesting. I thought about it. I even did a scene from Bran's viewpoint. But what does it get you, really, that you don't get in these scenes? We know he's upset. We know he won't even leave to get something to eat as long as she's in surgery. Picking viewpoint characters for scenes is tricky...you need to pick the one that's going to reveal what you need revealed, and Bran as a viewpont character just didn't offer me enough here...

 

I was also a little surprised that, despite Luc constantly claiming that he and Laura are friends, and wanting to go see her, and the obvious parallel of his loss of being able to use his hand properly and play music, and her possible career-threatening injury, that we don't see him more directly concerned for her, interacting with her, trying to be there with her. It's never quite clear to me if Luc and Laura are really friends or just casual acquaintances. I'm not really sure I get their friendship. Maybe we'll get to see more of it in upcoming chapters?

 

Interesting point. They aren't really close friends I guess. Laura's more than willing, and does her mothering best, but Luc doesn't let anyone close. But frankly he's just in too much pain here to focus on anything. You ever been in that kind of pain without medication? I have. There is no room for anything else. There just isn't.

 

 

 

 

 

(By the way, Happy Canada Day!)

Et toi. Just came back from a rained out bbq and fireworks....

[Cynical Romantic]

I had a really interesting email from a reader who basically said that, while reading Everybody's Wounded, he was totally into Scott and Josh, but now in Light, outside Scott's point of view, he finds he doesn't really like Scott anymore. That Scott is by far the least wounded of the men, the strongest and so best able to cope... and he found that Scott is rather... well... judgmental.

 

I'd love to know what others think...

 

Was Scott too hard on Matt?

 

Should Scott feel threatened at all by Matt? (Remember where this story started...with David dumping Scott for another guy...)

Interesting. Actually, I like Scott a bit less now too, now that we're not in his head anymore, but not for the same reason as your email reader. I don't think that Scott is being harsh or judgmental; I just think that he's projecting his own insecurities. And it's harder for that to come across when his point of view isn't telling us so.

 

But the way he tells Matt that he should be focusing on Luc, well, there's something about it that seems to me like he's mentally head-checking himself, realising that he himself is thinking too much about Luc. And when he berates Matt for having the wrong focus, he's really berating himself.

 

I sort of see Scott as walking around with a permanent case of wounded-bird syndrome. In EW, he thought Luc needed him more and was pulled to Luc, until Josh - who had initially seemed so strong to Scott - confessed that, in fact, he needed him more. So Scott put aside what he felt for Luc and was pulled to Josh. But now, he is being drawn back to Luc, who is maybe less inwardly wounded but still more outwardly so than Josh.

 

The real question: Is Scott so busy thinking about what he should feel that he forgets to ask himself what he does feel?

 

(I could be totally off base here... This is just me speculating... Don't mind me.)

 

Edit to add: Also hard to remember that Scott's only, what, eighteen? Nineteen? He sometimes seems to be a hundred years old.

Edited July 2, 2009 by Cynical Romantic

[Duncan Ryder]

Edit to add: Also hard to remember that Scott's only, what, eighteen? Nineteen? He sometimes seems to be a hundred years old.

He's about to turn 20... He's an old soul. Some people just are.

 

Which doesn't mean he won't screw up <G>.

[Conner]

You aren't allowed to skip anything, Connor. Especially not the hurting bits...

And the weather in January in Nova Scotia is the perfect foil for pain...

So, you do have a cruel side ...or is that evil I sense.

 

Too bad I had to find out the hard way. I'll try not to take this personnally. It's just that I had this flash image of you flailing your readers with this whip, all the whilst shrieking, "Pain! Feel the pain!"

 

Speaking of pain, that's Conner, with an er ending. :2hands:

[Mark Arbour]

So, you do have a cruel side ...or is that evil I sense.

 

Too bad I had to find out the hard way. I'll try not to take this personnally. It's just that I had this flash image of you flailing your readers with this whip, all the whilst shrieking, "Pain! Feel the pain!"

 

Speaking of pain, that's Conner, with an er ending. :2hands:

See! I"m not the only one who f**ks up your name sometimes.

[Conner]

If anything, I love Scott's character more. In this story, I see him as the rock that everyone else is hanging on to -well not everyone but you know what I mean. Furthermore, my sense is that Scott is well aware that he is the rock here and has accepted that role. Right now, these people are his family and he'll do whatever it takes to keep them out of harm's way.

 

I can't agree with the comment that Scott doles his affection based on how needy a person is. He is compassionate, perhaps too much so for his own well being. His love and commitment to Josh is solid. There's not even a glimmer of doubt in my mind about that.

 

As for Scott's interaction with Matt at the hospital, I liked the way he handled it. He spoke to him privately, told Matt he had messed up and told him to fix it. Scott had every reason to be pissed. It was Scott who had trusted Matt enough to set this Matt-Luc co-habitation thing. In any event, Scott's anger had the desired effect on Matt. Maybe part of the problem here was that readers were, for the most part, unaware of just how much pain Luc was in. It took Scott arriving and checking Luc out to set that in motion. It was Matt's job to look after Luc.

 

In the end, I'm convinced there will be a Matt and Luc. I can just feel it. Yes, Duncan's going to drag us through hot coals before we get there, then, of course, there's the whip, but we'll get there....and will have loved the ride.

[Looby]

Hi

 

I am in the process or reading How the LIght Gets in and I just finished chapter 6, but I see in the posts here is discussion around other chapters past this? I am just wondering where those chapters are all mine shows is up to chapter 6? Someone help I would so love to read more of this story.

Thanks

Looby

[sat8997]

Hi Looby, welcome to GA!!

 

If you scroll up to the top of the page and click on the 'Readers' link, you'll see all the Hosted and Promising authors listed on the left side. Just click on Duncan and you'll get his site page with current chapters.

[sat8997]

If anything, I love Scott's character more. In this story, I see him as the rock that everyone else is hanging on to -well not everyone but you know what I mean. Furthermore, my sense is that Scott is well aware that he is the rock here and has accepted that role. Right now, these people are his family and he'll do whatever it takes to keep them out of harm's way.

 

I can't agree with the comment that Scott doles his affection based on how needy a person is. He is compassionate, perhaps too much so for his own well being. His love and commitment to Josh is solid. There's not even a glimmer of doubt in my mind about that.

 

As for Scott's interaction with Matt at the hospital, I liked the way he handled it. He spoke to him privately, told Matt he had messed up and told him to fix it. Scott had every reason to be pissed. It was Scott who had trusted Matt enough to set this Matt-Luc co-habitation thing. In any event, Scott's anger had the desired effect on Matt. Maybe part of the problem here was that readers were, for the most part, unaware of just how much pain Luc was in. It took Scott arriving and checking Luc out to set that in motion. It was Matt's job to look after Luc.

 

In the end, I'm convinced there will be a Matt and Luc. I can just feel it. Yes, Duncan's going to drag us through hot coals before we get there, then, of course, there's the whip, but we'll get there....and will have loved the ride.

Excellent, Conner! My thoughts exactly (scary huh?).

[Duncan Ryder]

So, you do have a cruel side ...or is that evil I sense.

 

Too bad I had to find out the hard way. I'll try not to take this personnally. It's just that I had this flash image of you flailing your readers with this whip, all the whilst shrieking, "Pain! Feel the pain!"

 

Speaking of pain, that's Conner, with an er ending. :2hands:

Cruel side??? Moi??? (Duncan bats eyes innocently...)

ConnER I'm shocked you could think such a thing...

[Zeoanne]

Hi

 

I am in the process or reading How the LIght Gets in and I just finished chapter 6, but I see in the posts here is discussion around other chapters past this? I am just wondering where those chapters are all mine shows is up to chapter 6? Someone help I would so love to read more of this story.

Thanks

Looby

Also Looby, I hope you have already read Everybody's Wounded, it'll bring you to the beginning of the saga. I am really loving the stories written by DR!!

[Benji]

Also Looby, I hope you have already read Everybody's Wounded, it'll bring you to the beginning of the saga. I am really loving the stories written by DR!!

............How the light gets in, humm, everybody is still wounded!!

[Trebs]

I finally got a chance to read chapter 12 - FANTASTIC work Duncan. Though the focus is off of Scott, I still really like him and the scene with Matt was wonderful. As to Luc and Laura, if Scott hadn't shown up, I could see Luc and Bran going in to see Laura - but it was a natural change since they could only have two people, that it would be Bran and Scott. Like others have said, Luc just keeps his wall up to firmly...

 

Can't wait for more chapters... But this one was wonderful - gonna go re-read it again in fact.

[Looby]

Hi Everyone:

 

Thanks for your replys and yes I have read Everybody's Wounded. These are both great stories, I am an avid reader and I am really loving Duncan's stories I can't wait for the next chapters. I hope Matt and Luc end up together.

 

This is a great forum, I will have to keep coming back and I enjoyed reading everyone's comments.

 

Looby

[TracyMN]

Hi Duncan, I couldn't resist and I'm so glad I didn't. Thanks for being present, you know what that says.

Hehe, what you're not saying is where the fun starts. :-)

 

 

Hello Cyn, it is so nice to see you again! Your mind is a constant source of inspiration to me-translating intuition into

English what sounds like French in my head. *g* Disorganized thinking sounds a lot like French to Canadians.

OK, American/Canadians.

 

Hello everyone! There is certainly something to be said for showing up late.

 

All of the comments here are easily plausible, and I never once wondered if we're all reading the same story,

as is sometimes the case, and I think it speaks to Duncan's talent for getting to the Human Heart of the matter, where

we all live at the end of the day. And the differences of interpretation or opinion are as much a reflection of temperament

and/or experience as any of those so well presented through the characters of the story--and I like what that says about

the story and about all of you.

 

Conner, I'm with you about Scott. He's going to make some mistakes, some that WE will see as mistakes, as opposed to him being

too hard on himself, but his character is, as you say, solid, because that's what he is. He is less like the others in that they are all, to a greater or lesser degree, some of what they are, and some of what they aren't. If that makes any sense, ( and Duncan if it doesn't contradict every

damn thing I said about Matt). It's funny, I am reluctant to the point of aversion when it comes to sounding my horn about Josh and Scott's relationship. Whatever that might imply is probably all of what it is too. I'd like to be logical about fictional characters, just not these two.

 

On one point I beg to differ, and of course I'll have to say why:

 

 

"In the end, I'm convinced there will be a Matt and Luc " (the quote thingy isn't working for me either, why does that not surprise me?)

 

I just don't see it. Duncan's not going to tell us, so if I have eat those words it won't be for a while. But I honestly don't see that as any part of what their relationship to each other is about. It's a little too contrived--though it would definitely happen in about 80% of stories written by other authors in these woods. I mean no disrespect by that; after all, everyone here has probably gotten involved with someone through the intentional or unintentional motives of friend or family. Proximity has it's rightful place in the scheme of things. It would just be too easy, and it would do too much of the work that I see Duncan having in store for these folks. I see each one touching the life of each of the others, helping or hindering and quite likely all of the above- but anything for the sake of convenience will defeat the purposes so desperately needed by each of them for reasons utterly and specifically personal. OK, you get it, any more and it will sound like i'm trying to convince you, and I'd have to actually know something if I was going to attempt such a thing. (If I can hear your footsteps Duncan, I can hear you laughing too).

 

Just one more little thing, since someone asked: Scott did Matt a favor by telling him he was being selfish, and the fact that it was motivated

by his insistance on an illusion makes it more generous, not less because that illusion involved Josh. He recognizes where Matt is bound by

his own personality defects, and it is in support of something better for him that he bothers with him at all. Scott's friendship with Bran, and his desire to help Luc come back and live where he wants, are only a small part of him allowing Matt to be a part of their group, and of Luc's solution for this particular step on the way to healing himself his own way. I don't think for a moment it was because he felt he NEEDED to do it for Bran, or that he could not have either helped Luc another way (without moving in with him himself), or that he would compromise Luc's vulnerability simply to give him what he wanted. I may agree that Scott is the least wounded, I'm not sure if we fully know his true hurts yet.

But I trust him, and have seen no cause to doubt him. I will allow that I WANT to like Scott, for however many logical reasons and a couple that no one would admit to publically. I trust Josh too.

 

I think Laura, even before her accident, has a well of strength within her that she expresses in her athletic discipline, that gymnastics is in a sense the horse it rode in on, but she is young and her innocence took a serious blow that naturally effected her in critical ways and in critical areas of her developement as a person, compounded now by the loss of her outlet for all of that, along with the source of her self-confidence and self-worth; the task before this girl is monumental, and if i'm reading it correctly, the end result will depend on more variables than even that confounded Matt character. :-P I can't remember if I said my piece publicly about him, or in an email to Duncan on one of my shy days (ha, as if),

and i'll spare you temporarily so you'll let me come play here again.

 

What Bran has on his side with Laura and Matt is an honest heart, and an uncomplicated personality; the absence of his own drama may be all that saves him from being destroyed by either one of these two.

 

Haha, I said little didn't I? It's a train folks. It doesn't stop til it reaches the station. If anything doesn't make sense, it's French.

 

Anybody live where it's winter now? I got the night/day thing a long time ago, but the seasonal concept hit me like a ton of bricks, about a month ago. How did I not ever hear that?