AFriendlyFace

Awww Talk about romantic! What a great story, Jack! I'm sorry to hear you guys didn't stay together, but it's awesome that you're able to still be friends! He is gay though, right Vic? Awwwww That's so sweet, Colin! Good luck to you both in college As for me, well I'm not seeing anyone, but I'm optimistic Take care all and have a great day! Kevin

Another thing we seem to do a lot of is use exclamation points!!!! Are we really that excited? ....well I know I am!! -Kevin

Interestingly, at the beginning of the article when they showed that picture of the hair whirl, I not only did immediately, correctly identify the counter-clockwise whirl as "gay", I also thought it more "attractive". On the other hand that could have been due to hair colour/style as well *shrug* I really enjoyed this article! Thank you very much for posting it, Jack I didn't particularly care for that Michael Bailey, and I was furious when I read Sven Bocklandt's "You activate one or the other

Sorry I'm a bit late, Greg! I hope your birthday was completely fantastic! Take care and may the coming year treat you very well indeed! -Kevin

You succeed far more than "once in a while", Luc

Both these stories have been added to the archive. Thanks for your submission, Noel! -Kevin

Thank you. These stories have now been added -Kevin

Wait...you mean some guys don't do these things!

Hmm, like Menzo I think I pretty much went from 1 to 5 too. I sorta already had too many gay friends and was too okay with gay people to go through anger, barganing and depression. Apart from which I don't really do anger and depression in general much anyway, and barganing would have probably felt silly to me. Take care all and have a great day! Kevin

Well said Perfectly said, Dio! Exactly what I was going to say, Graeme! In many ways I think the internet is great because it allows you to really focus exclusively on people's thoughts, feelings, ideas, and general personalities and ignore appearences, mannerisms, and behaviours. However, as you pointed out these are things are aspects of the person in question and do need to be taken into consideration. In general though, I'm pleased that the internet does offer a venue in which to essentially "ignore" these other things since all too often it's only these things that are given consideration in casual day-to-day interactions. So a divide? Hmmm I suppose if I had to put myself in either the butch or femmie category I'd fall into femmie, although I certainly wouldn't describe myself that way unless I had to pick one or the other for myself. True enough I have a major shopping addiction, I'm fascinated by clothes and while I most certainly don't descriminate against people based on what they're wearing (several of my close friends need a major fashion intervention yet I've always managed to keep my mouth shut unless asked), I almost always do notice and remember what people wear.. I also have a collection of skin and hair products which could rival any teenage girl. I also tend to seek emotional relationships and connections with people ("How did that make you feel?" is more important to me than "What happened?"). On the other hand I consider myself a very strong, independent person. I tend to relate to other gay guys in more of a "protector" role, and I pride myself on my "southern manners" which I extend not only to women but also guys (especially gay guys). In general I don't think there's that big a divide between the two categories, and I don't think they're usually that cut and dried. Sometimes I see clear examples of one or the other with very little mixture, but most people (myself included) seem to fall somewhere in the middle. Let me use some examples from my last job. There were a couple of very effiminate (gay) guys there. I really liked them both, and was quite close with one of them; however, occasionally they did make me uncomfortable, mostly because while everyone at work was okay with them on a few occasions I was treated the same way that they were. They wanted to be treated/regarded in this way (essentially as "one of the girls"); I didn't particularly care for it and while everyone definitely had good intentions it made me uncomfortable sometimes. On the other hand there was another gay guy there, who I suppose was more "butch". On one occasion I went for drinks with he and his friends at their favourite bar. I had a great time! However, I didn't really feel like I "fit in" exactly. For one thing there wasn't really a single guy there that I was particularly interested in in anything beyond a platonic capacity (which is completely fine, and as I said I had a great time, but people do tend to go to clubs/bars for romantic/sexual reasons). I guess in short, I do tend to be attracted to "pretty guys", but while I want them to look pretty I don't want them to act like princesses. LOL, I guess I like "straight acting" but "gay looking" guys. That's about the only time I'd say I have any biases based on "fem or butch", and that's only my personal preferences for dating. When it comes to friendship I'm happy to hang out with, and likely to get along with, the butchest or femmiest gay guy. -Kevin

Hi Nick So sorry I haven't been around very much Personally I love the idea of you incorporating characters from the anthologies into the serials! I think it would be really fun! I hope you have a nice time with your grandparents Take care and have a great day! Kevin

Hey Adonelos, I'll get these added within the week and PM you if I need more information and/or when I'm finished to let you know. -Kevin

Hey Grey Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I'll add this story within the week and send you a PM letting you know that I have once it's done. -Kevin EDIT: This story has now been added. Thank you very much for your submission!

Hey NoelBlue! I'll be adding these to the archive within in the week and will send you a PM letting you know once I have -Kevin

Well when I first stumbled upon TOU at Nifty and followed the addy here, TOU was stuck at the end of the Marshmellow scene, DD was on the infamous chapter 8, and TLW was totally complete. While it was definitely TOU that brought me here, and hooked me in, and while I could even argue that it had the most impact on me, I eventually came to like DD better. My favourite though (even among the newer stuff) has always been TLW. It is perhaps not a coincidence that it was the only one that was completely finished and that I was able to set the pace myself. When I read for relaxation I tend to be a very slow, labourious reader (if that's not a contradiction in terms ). I not only read every word but I often re-read especially good/important scenes and sentences and often stop to ponder them. Apart from that I just don't have the ability to get through an entire chapter without getting up a few times anyway. My constant thirst, whinny bladder, and general high degree of distractability ensure that each chapter will take me a minimum of an hour and a half to read (that's about the quickest I've ever managed to get through one), and it usually ends up being more like two hours. So anyway, it still took me over a week to read TLW, but I think my enjoyment was definitely enhanced by being able to control the rate at which I read it. Yes, exactly. -Kevin

Hey Luc! First off I pretty much agree with everything Viv said. Especially with regards to solving the concrete problem of the plans you guys had with Scott. Here are some thoughts I had though:

No, I don't watch TV Do you own a black tie?

I guess overall I consider myself thick skinned. That's not to say I don't react to criticism, I just don't fall apart over it. My most likely reaction will be to either distance myself from the situation until I can improve (assuming I think the criticism was accurate), or to distance myself emotionally from the person who did the criticising (assuming I think it was unfair). That second part sounds worse than it is. I tend to be a very emotionally available, empathetic person. If I remained emotionally close to someone who was harshly and unfairly criticising me it would be bad for my emotional well-being. The distance is also usually temporary, usually only until I/we can work out whatever the issue is, or if it's completely about me until I can sort out what to do with the criticism. But anyway, while I'll adapt I most certainly won't break if someone criticises me. The only time criticism really does hurt is, as the others have said, when it comes from someone I respect in the area that they're knowledgable about. In other words a friend that I really like and respect could say "what a stupid play" with regards to some game I'm playing, and chances are I won't care if the friend is less knowledgable about the game than I am. Also, the criticism should be about something subjective if it's going to hurt me. If you say you don't like something I've written, or painted, or otherwise created and I care about you (and you've done it in a harsher way than simply "I don't like that"), THEN I'll be hurt. If it's something objective then it doesn't really bother me because either you know more about it than me in which case you're right and the criticism can help, or you know less about it than me and I'm right so your opinion doesn't matter. Actually I admit that during an argument/confrontation/fight I won't let my opponent see that he/she has hurt me at all. It may have hurt but I'll deal with it later on on my own or with trusted people, but I'll hold up during the incident itself. To be honest the only time I do let someone see that they've hurt me would be if I were doing it for guilt or sympathy purposes. Few things frustrate me more than seeing someone fall apart under criticism when they're the only person that can help themselves. If I can help I will, but often the only person that can fight back is the person in question. In which case I just hate seeing them fall apart. Of course there are a few sore spots for me that always hurt and that I always take straight to heart. Unfortunately this is true even if the person isn't trying to offensive, or even "brutally honest", but just happens to say the wrong thing that they probably can't even imagine why it would be offensive. It's probably further complicated by the fact that apart from these few things I'm generally pretty difficult to offend or upset so I'm sure it seems like it comes from out of no where. I realize this, and I don't hold it against the person, but it does hurt. LOL, generally in this case I'll be completely open and honest with my feelings since the person wasn't trying to hurt me in the first place and since I'm not on the offensive. What an awesome post!! Everyone come look at Jamie's clever post!! Yes, I agree. Postive feedback is definitely more important in the beginning phases of something, and I think it's very important to remember this and adjust what and how they say something accordingly. Take care all and have a great day! Kevin

Looking forward to seeing what you've got to add, Tom

Well that wasn't such a rambly post anyway! LOL, besides there's always things you can say that seem to make sense even if you don't know what you're talking about. "I'd agree with that" "I'll have to check with Mel but I think this is going to work" "You know back in Ohio they'd think this was a stupid idea" "The best part is certainly yet to come"

I was actually thinking his pants were really cute. You guys look adorable, Joe I'm glad for ya'll! -Kevin

OHH I like all those! Actually, despite the fact that we've mostly been discussing the first two (Girlfriend and Dontcha) I like I'm so excited and Let's here it for the Boy much more!

Nokia, although I'm currently the proud owner of a moto Fork or Spoon

Ohh do let's keep trying! I think we can do this!! Post you guys! Even if it isn't about the story

That's probably the one thing that can be boiled down to from all my other disagreements with traditional Christianity/religion in general. I have absolutely no problem with Faith, and quite the opposite I think it can be very healthy. Indeed I hope to instill it in my own children. But I think this faith should always be based in reality, should be open for discussion and debate, and should most definitely take context into consideration. A good example is birth control. Of course birth control wasn't supported in the Bible/early church. Comparitively there weren't very many people. The ones that were here died much younger and often didn't reach maturity in the first place, etc. etc. So naturally it was advantage and indeed moral for people to have tons of children to ensure the continuation of the species. TODAY however, when we've got OVERpopulation and people are hanging on forever, and almost all babies are maturing, I think is ridiculous, irresponsible and immoral for mainstream churchs to continue the ban on contraception. Actually homosexuality could just as easily fit into that same argument. As a race we probably didn't particularly want our members pairing off with others of the same sex because we needed all the reproductive individiuals we could get. Today, not so much. As for Christian forgiveness, well personally I really like it, appreciate it, and avail myself of it all the time. I definitely do consider myself a Christian and I think that it really enhances my life. I just believe in making logical moral choices and not just writing off your own responsibility by looking to someone/something else to make every decision for you. Just my thoughts, Take care and have a great day, Demetz Kevin