[dkstories] Bully 10 is UP!

[Bassanimal]

Hey all, just read the last chapter of Bully and loved it...drop what your doing..unless its a breakable...and read it now!

 

 

 

 

BASSANIMAL

[TonyM]

I loved the ending. I would have been teary-eyed if I wasn't dehydrated from drinking too much last night with some friends!

Having the final chapter available to read made suffering through my hangover much easier. Keep up the great work Dan so we have many more wonderful stories to read.

[canundra]

Loved it

[Dr. John NYC]

First off, I will echo the words of the previous posts and say "Read it; you'll like it!" Some of the next comments contain spoilers, so read at risk if you haven't read the chapter (or better yet, go now, do not pass Go, and read the chapter!).

 

Second,

I was relieved that Eddie made the decisions he did to love Daniel and leave with him and that his father made the decision to apologize and start the process of letting go of the anger and hatred of 20 years. I wasn't really surprised, however, as there had been signs that such resolutions might be coming.

 

 

There were 2 things that were surprises.

 

One,

the sermon that Daniel's father preached including his interaction with Elijah. I'm sure others also wished he would have come around even further, but it was more realistic what he said and how he said it. I could at least respect his opinion the way he presented it even if I disagree with some of his basic premises.

 

 

 

The real surprise that completely snuck up on me and that put the final perfect touch on the story was

Eddie telling his father that he was going to study psychology. Wow! The mechanic wanted to learn how to fix people as he had learned to fix machinery. The boy/man who couldn't touch his feelings and emotions much less express them before Daniel arrived and forced him to do so was planning to learn how to help others do exactly what he could barely do! Yet, it made so much sense in retrospect. My lover is a well-known psychologist and listening to him talk about how people come to psychology fit perfectly with Eddie's situation, and because he was going to have to learn how to do it, he might be better than many who are more naturals at such work.

It was as quintessential an O. Henry ending as I've read! Great job, Dan!

 

Not surprisingly, I wouldn't mind hearing about their adventures in Las Vegas some day...

 

Keep on Writin'!

 

John

[C James]

This was wonderfully done. I really enjoyed the sermon, very well done!

 

The father's about-face was also very believable, which frankly I would not have thought possible until I read this.

 

Eddie's major: that was perfect, just perfect.

 

Thanks, Dan, for a delightful story.

[corvus]

I love this story. For me, the choice of protagonist was unusual and daring, because there's always a chance that the mean aspects of the character gets overshadowed by the "cuddly" parts, or vice versa, leading to an unrealistic and therefore unempathizable character. But that didn't happen in the least. It's really a testament to Dan's skill that he manages to pull that off. Also, I found the pace of the protagonist's change to be perfect -- it's one of those things I'm scared to do as a writer, because it's so hard. But all stories are about change, and it's handled wonderfully here.

 

I also like it that, even though there story was told from a first person POV, there were quite a lot of things initially withheld from the reader about the protagonist himself, such as his thing with the last preacher boy. Usually, we assume that the protagonist, if first person, wouldn't hold back anything of importance from us, or that we'd know everything already, but I was pleasantly surprised here.

 

Some moments really stuck to my mind.

The part where Danny and Eddie have that convo in the car, and the deer comes along... That was, for me, one of the best "I love you" moments that I have... ever read.

 

 

Criticism -- I liked a lot about the ending, except

that it was a bit easy on them. Maybe it's my own sense of justice, but that the father should apologize, that the pastor should be so forgiving, that a gay couple should have shown up... all at once? There needs to be a bit more ambivalence in there!

 

 

All in all, a great read. To Mr Dirk: I'm very glad to have found this story.

[steph]

Great job, Dan!

Not surprisingly, I wouldn't mind hearing about their adventures in Las Vegas some day...

 

Ditto!

 

I liked how you were able to focus on the relationship(s) in Bully. Sometimes (like in DoH and the DO battles), you seem to get distracted by descriptions of ships and battles and other externals that take away from the characters. Now, you just need to find the balance between :2hands: :battleaxe: and (sorry, I love these smileys)

 

Thanks,

Steph

[Guest Kookteh]

It was a pure joy to read Dan, thank you for this.

[lana]

It was a pure joy to read Dan, thank you for this.

 

 

one of the best stories I've read

[Lissa]

This is the first story I've read by you. Now I'm hooked and will have to read the rest of them.