Dark

Karadur has almost died twice now, but Nephy keeps threatening to haunt me if he does and, well, I guess I'm not that brave!

Yes, it was fun to let Bryce out. My vampire don't sparkle!

Hatin' on Xeran again?

It would be interesting to stick Xeran and Karadur in a ring and watch them duke it out. History would point to death as the only option for any Alan/Kynan noogie; small wonder Kynan's a little freaked out.

Cliff? I see no cliff. You must be imagining things, because I would never do such a thing!

Duncan is in his 40s and has lived a very privileged, sheltered life. He's not had much contact with people outside his "station" and you won't find vampires or werewolves (or other obviously non-humans) in those social circles.

The magic in Duncan's blood calls to vampires and werewolves like coffee to those who need their caffeine fix (only more intense, lol). Wait til you meet Jacen! So glad you're enjoying it; I know Fantasy isn't really your thing.

Tears are a reminder of Kynan's human heritage. Demons don't cry. Their eyes can water if sick or injured, and that's disturbing for demons to witness, like for most people staring at snot or blood streaming from a person's nose. Funny how no one seems to like the queen, and we haven't even met her yet!

Yes, Kynan has a human form. You are reading again! Welcome to the party! So, is it Bryce you like, or Alan? They are an interesting pair.

I wholeheartedly agree! With all the sex ed in schools these days, who doesn't know where their prostate is? And, come on! Any young person interested in sex is going to do all the research they can -- what used to be magazines is now abundant online. That's right on up there with two virgins who have wonderful, orgasmic sex the very first time. Please! I remember during my first time we were so clumsy and nervous we ended up laughing because he couldn't get it in! We both felt like incompetent dorks, and that became the source of all the fun we had later. That's a great idea, Maria! We could even have an informal contest to see who could write the worst cliche story! What do you guys think? Contest?

It's shows like Will and Grace that we have to thank for "gayness" being equated with "fem." That kind of thinking is an idiotic stereotype. Those two words do not mean the same thing. Every time I see a stereotypical "gay" character I just want to punch them. People who think you have to act like that in order to be gay are just as stupid. It's like what one of my fellow teachers said after a parent-teacher conference: the parent thought that I'd be a bad teacher like all the other bad teachers she's seen on TV, so she was yelling at me for things she thought I was doing because that's what teachers do on TV. Why do people have to be so stupid?

T__T

I have sensitive skin, so no perfumes for me! But, I'm not a person who enjoys scents on people, except I have this fascination for Old Spice. ../..//public/style_emoticons/default/blush1.gif My dad still wears that stuff, so I guess it's a holdover from my childhood. When I could smell that aftershave, it meant my dad was home.

Yay, it worked! No one's ever said what you did about Ben being followed, so I couldn't be sure. Did you pick up on how the present/future events overlaid one another (regarding the kidnapping?) Wasn't sure how well that came across; it was kind of an experiment. I wish I had a Rick in my life, and you're right that Ben would not have let a relationship develop between them without outside intervention. Isn't it lucky that I control his destiny? So glad you enjoyed the read. It wasn't easy taking the short stories and turning them into one complete read.

In my mind, this is sort of like talking about "chick movies" or "that's such a guy thing to do." I know many people who don't "advertise" their sexuality (gay or straight) and nobody cares until suddenly they find out you're gay. Then it's like you're hiding a big secret or "living a lie" and I really can't stand that. I am an introvert and am not the kind of person to share family pictures or announce what my plans are for the weekend. I take people by surprise when I tell them I can play magic, love DnD, and am dying to get my hands on Diablo 3. I don't happen to think that's any of their business unless it comes up in a conversation or I'm directly asked, so I suppose you could say I'm hiding my characteristics or whatever, but I just don't care. If someone has a problem with it, that's their problem; I don't have to make it mine. And you know what they say about people who assume ...

Interesting thoughts on stereotyping. I can only say that statistically, many gay men report having negative relationships with the mother-figure in their life. That, and the character of Rick's mother is based off of someone I met a few years back. Rick's mom is nothing compared to the real deal. I couldn't get away from there quick enough. Anyway, without conflict we'd have no plot and nothing to read, so onward ho!

as my students say, rugby is the shiz. I cut about half that stuff out during revisions for the third draft, but I wanted to leave enough in to provide some tidbits while alluding to Ben's confusion. I love rugby and it was hard to cut it down. LOL. It's good to hear you're still with it. I had fun with the characters, playing around with them and giving them their own voices.

Well, welcome! I'm glad you could relate to Linus; I really wanted him to be an average kind of guy.

Chapter 9 Monykom City. It shouldn't really be possible for a city to have this many people in it. Five thousand people were about ten times the size that a large town could really get away with holding. Certainly the place looked grossly swollen, bloated in a way that suggested it had expanded massively, and very quickly, at some point in the past; like a starving man bolting down far too much food to decently hold, and then lying down for a week or so until the swelling went away. The smell

Excellent that you're picking up on the clues! I prefer piece by piece reveals to long passages of exposition. Brace yourself! There's some tough sections coming up.

I'm glad you liked it! Yes, Rick has done this sort of thing before. He mentions it later on. Nosy and possessive are certainly characteristics of Ben's family.

Thanks! I am thinking about it. Don't know if I can get anything ready by the next anthology, though.

Hey Hey Happy Birthday!

Thanks for the review. Glad you found the story entertaining ... and titillating.

Thanks!