AFriendlyFace

That's a brilliant suggestion, Krista! Perhaps we should try something similar on all of our major elected officials Ohhhh, is it too late to RSVP?

The sentiment of "let's butt the hell out," is certainly not one which I'm going to object to.

LOL, sounds like quite an offer!

Chay here

Oh my! Only in Texas

I think you're right! It's a great ending but it certainly does leave you wanting more! I will say one more thing I enjoyed from the story was the fairytale aspect of it. It starts off very much in fairytale style and "Smiles" has a fairytalish name, but it's beautifully contrasted by the fact that the story is anything but a fairytale. Smiles is daily treated to a harsh helping of painful reality. I think then that the use of "The Prince" as Smiles name for Jack is perfect. It restores the fairytale tone set earlier in the piece just when things finally do begin to go in fairytale fashion for Smiles I really enjoyed that aspect of it and am glad that I considered it more carefully. -Kevin

It certainly got a lot hotter in the second half, lol I forgot to post one of my own favourite HOT videos in my last post: I think it's very sexy, indeed overtly sexual. I love the rampant bisexuality

Fun thread! Hmm, I have to say that without the performance that first song would suck big time, IMO! I did very much enjoy the performance though, mostly because it was well choreographed and downright fascinating to watch. I wasn't really that into the guys though. The second song on the other hand I didn't enjoy the choreography and performance for all that much at all; however, it had the virtue of being a much more enjoyable song in its own right to listen to, lol. Oh my gosh awesome song! I REALLY enjoyed that! The choreography and performance were good too, but by and large I enjoyed it for the merit of the lively song itself. A few attractive people, but nothing that eye catching, lol. I had no idea he'd done a remake of this. The song itself is so stellar that of course I liked, but Adam doesn't really do anything for me, and the video was quite boring, lol. Eh, gotta disagree on both counts. The first version Eric linked to is good, but not better than the original in my opinion. Actually, I also thought the first version linked to was much more enjoyable than the live version Benji linked to. Mostly because to me that song is awesome because of its emotional power and almost hypnotic sort of feel. In the live version Adam tries to "perform" it way too much for my taste, showing what notes he can hit etc. I didn't care for that at all. Oh man! That was an AWESOME song! I loved every second of it! Definitely not high on eye candy though, but all around terrific song. I can't really do instrumental songs very well. I have to be in a very special sort of mood to get into them. The melody was certainly good, but when there were no lyrics after the first couple of minutes I completely lost interest. Oh man....that was the worst song in this thread by far! LOL, yeah they were decent to look at, but a cute torso in a black shirt only goes so far Now this on the other hand was perfect! Jeez, I'd forgotten how ridiculously adorable the lead singer of Sum 41 was back then! I'm also a major fan of swimmers and they were all delicious to look at! VERY HOT video! Definitely the hottest in the thread so far IMO. Great song too, I was a big fan of Sum 41 and that whole genre. Thanks for the flashback!

Awwww What a cutie!

That was a great scene; I loved it! LOL interestingly a couple of days after reading it I was out one afternoon and came across a skater who perfectly fit the description! Mind you I wasn't stalking anyone at the time, but I was certainly distracted.

Awww It was certainly an excellent story and definitely works from a number of different perspectives. I personally am inclined to see Cody as a psychological manifestation. However, it certainly could be a physical manifestation, especially at the end with the photograph! I confess that I have not read the original story by Codey, but I shall certainly give it a look!

Oh wow! That's phenomenal! So glad you made it through in tact, Steve! And wow, that really does put the whole thing into a new perspective!

I certainly have with my own characters, and while I can't speak for whether Graeme's characters have done that to him, I can attest to the fact that his characters have done that to me. No pressure of course, but I think I would be delighted to read that sequel! I'm immensely curious about what happened to Jack and Gabriel and what the rest of their story holds! Jack and Gabriel were extremely fascinating, well-depicted characters and in the span of a relatively short piece I felt like I really came to know them and invest in their experiences.

I didn't want to be too controversial in my initial comments on the piece, but I have to say that the scene with Pat's mother brought to mind a lot of difficult questions and feelings. I'm primarily reminded of two things from this. The first is the contrast of Pat's mother's reaction upon learning that her son's boyfriend has HIV and the contrast of Debbie's reaction on the television series Queer As Folk when she learned that Michael (her son)'s boyfriend had HIV. Debbie didn't handle it so well at first and wished that Michael would date someone who wasn't positive. In contrast Pat's mom seemed to be okay with the idea from the get go. The other thing it puts me in mind of is the thread we have in the Member Q&A, Would you have sex with someone who was HIV positive?. Most posters made the distinction between sex and dating and I think that's a very important distinction. For me personally it would be a definite "no" on sex and more of a "well it would depend on the circumstances" for dating. Regardless, Pat's reaction and decision aren't actually what I found overly surprising. I think there are certainly a lot of people who would react similarly, especially after they had had time to digest the information like Pat did. What I found surprising is the parent's reaction. I'm a pretty easy going person, and I assume that when I have children I'll be all about letting them make their own decisions and just making it clear that I love and support them regardless. However, for me I think that knowing that my child was intimately involved with someone who had a major communicable disease (regardless of what it was) would be one of the most agonizing situations I can imagine. I would have absolutely no problem whatsoever accepting my child's sexuality (indeed my slight preference is for gay, lesbian, or bisexual children). I feel confident that I have the background and skills to deal with a child's transgender status with much less anxiety and difficulty than the average parent. I think I could even deal with my child's own illness more easily. However, I'd have a big problem with knowingly encouraging my child to maintain or initiate an intimate, sexual relationship with someone who had HIV. Ultimately there's no question that I would want and expect my child to ultimately make his/her own decision. However, I find it remarkably unlikely that I would be able to encourage their decision. At absolute best I think I would vocally state that the should decide for themselves and subtly indicate that I was against it. More realistically I'd probably vociferously state my thoughts and fears but ultimately conclude with something along the lines of, "but you have to do what you feel is best." I'd definitely have an easier time deciding to be in such a relationship myself than being okay with my kids doing it. Anyway, maybe I am unique in this regard, and maybe most parents who are generally open-minded and liberal wouldn't have an issue with this. I'm pretty sure I would though. It isn't necessarily something I like. I'm actually extremely conflicted in my thoughts on this issue. I think that the discrimination that HIV+ people face is terrible and I really wish people would be more willing to be close to them and accepting of them. However, there's no doubt that when it comes to my kids there would be at least a bit of a disconnect. I obviously wouldn't mind a close friendship, and would indeed be delighted if my kids were accepting and open-minded and befriended an HIV+ individual. Would I want them dating (or more specifically having sex with) an HIV+ person? There's no doubt in my mind that I would not want that in the least. Could I accept it? Probably, but it would be difficult and painful. On the other hand, I'd certainly want my own kids to be able to date whomever the wanted - positive or negative - if they themselves were positive. So clearly I have a pretty big double standard. I have no doubt that if my own positive child were dating a negative person and the negative person's parent gave my kid any grief about it I'd tell them where to go in no uncertain terms. Of course, by the same token I strongly doubt I'd blame the positive person my child were dating anyway. I may indeed resent them a bit if I perceived that my child were in danger because of them, but I think I'd be rational and kind enough to be civil and keep my feelings to myself (or perhaps to myself and my child). Anyway, this story and that one scene have given me quite a few things to seriously consider and reflect on. Apart from everything else in the story - which was excellent, well-told and thoroughly amusing in its own right - I have to say a very hardy THANK YOU to Linxe just for that! -Kevin

As an interesting contrast I have to admit my emotional reaction to the second part - learning of Dylan's real life, actual death - was significantly less than my reaction when I thought the narrator had killed him. I think that is for a couple of reasons. First off, I think that someone who "kills themselves" very gradually over many years as a result of their addiction is a bit less sympathetic of a character than someone who dies in a one time bad incidence, especially if they die at the hands of someone else. Certainly dying of an addiction is still terrible and pitiable, but it's a bit less of a shock and while it's still very sad, it's a bit easier to hold the person accountable because presumably they had ample opportunity to get help for their addiction. They also had many more years to "enjoy" themselves, and in general it seems more like they made their decision and knew what they were getting into. The primary difference though I think is that I was strongly identifying with the narrator. I can imagine how horrific it must have been to realize that my actions had resulted in the violent murder of someone I knew and cared about. Obviously I'd be sad if someone I liked died regardless, but if I thought I had literally killed them I'd be much more traumatized. Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that the dream sequence resulted in a horrified, tragic, shocked sort of emotional reaction; whereas the later matter-of-fact style revelation that Dylan had ultimately died through his addiction was more of a mildly sad, sort of "awww, what a shame." Regardless though, as is probably quite evident, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and became very much engrossed and invested! -Kevin

That is indeed the crux of the situation in my opinion as well. Is it all a matter of unavoidable, oedipal style fate, or is more a matter of self-fulfillment? I'm inclined to think unavoidable fate that coincided. I would have to completely disagree. I think Tom is almost wholly responsible for what happened, and most definitely primarily responsible. I believe that people are generally masters' of their own destinies, at least if they aren't being literally forced to do something. Tom made the decision to see the psychic. Tom made the decision to go for a drive after drinking - and right after his death had just been predicted no less! Tom made the decision to speak on the phone while driving in an unfamiliar neighbourhood at night. And Tom made the decision to take his eyes off the road and go searching for the phone. Andrew played a role no doubt, but he didn't actually force Tom to do anything. Of course, on the other hand, I guess to some extent Andrew did set things in motion and I am reminded of this section very much from what Graeme has said: Perhaps Andrew did ultimately abuse that trust. I can certainly see a case being made for that; however, personally I think the responsibility is primarily Tom's. -Kevin

Oh wow! That is terrible! As an aside a few years ago I was offered a position as an emergency dispatcher. I ultimately turned the job down in large part because I was concerned that it would be too high stress and that I would continually be wondering and worrying about what had happened. I suppose as with all things after awhile the profession becomes routine. That certainly would add a fascinating twist!!!

Yes, that's an excellent point. I was mostly being tongue in cheek in the first place. I think what I really liked about Seer Vantor were his general personality and attitude. He was a very strong character and he came off as someone who knew how to get the job done. Karshin was certainly a great character too; I just really enjoyed the contrast between the two seers. I also thoroughly loved the Jarlyn character. He just seemed so sweet and affectionate, but he also had a lot of personality. For example one of my favourite lines was when Karshin told him to act normal as they were entering the city and he responded:

That's very insightful; I completely agree. I was thinking what a healing experience it must have been for Gabriel when Jack was kissing his nub. That psychological aspect was certainly highly appreciated by me. On another note, this was the first anthology entry that I read that made me tear up a bit (a sure sign I'm enjoying a story )! Very beautiful and moving indeed, -Kevin

LOL, it certainly was rife with terrific lines! One of my favourites was:

All I can say is that this is an awesome round of anthologies and I'm very excited for everyone to get a chance to read them! Our authors really pulled out all the stops in supplying us with a great range of stories! Thanks also to Graeme for coordinating the whole thing and for Steph for doing all the tech work! Personally, I'd have wanted to read the stories anyway, so I didn't really do anything I wouldn't have wanted to do in the first place, and this way I got an early peek Now you guys go read them!! -Kevin

Very exciting chapter! There is indeed much hanging in the air!

I'd be interested in hearing this "Happy Hardcore" stuff. On another note, one of the main reasons I don't read fiction, or watch very many mainstream movies/television shows, is because I'm just not very interested in straight characters. GLBT content is kinda required if I'm going to be interested in fiction. I'm quite interested in non-fiction, non-story based reading, but the only fiction I read has to be GLBT.

I find the whole issue of "size" to be intriguing. Personally, I like guys with a small build. I generally prefer my guy to be the same height or shorter. The thinner/leaner the better. Average height and average build are certainly okay if the guy has other redeeming features. I will say though that a guy being taller than me and more solidly built is a big negative. If the guy is noticeably taller than me he'd better be very lightweight. I'm not attracted to "big, strong" guys at all. My preference is pretty much unilaterally for smaller guys. Average and bigger guys may still be possibilities but in that case I'm not interested in them for their bodies. Anyway, none of that matters at all for sex. I consider myself generally thoroughly versatile and I pretty much always prefer smaller guys (physically at least). So obviously about half the time I like the smaller guy to top (and bottom). Now if we're talking about penis size, I have to say that's completely irrelevant. I hardly even notice penises and I get bored if the guy I'm with tries to make them the exclusive focal point of the encounter. I will say though, that about the only thing I care at all about with regards to penises is that the guy "rises to the occasion" when we're having sex. I'm always a bit disappointed if the guy bottoms and stays soft (and obviously I'm disappointed if the guy tops and stays soft ). I do think sex shouldn't be so genitally focused though. In general I think it's positive to emphasize a whole body sort of experience. So erections shouldn't be required I suppose, but in all honesty I do prefer them a bit.

I agree with Mark; I think believing in ghosts and believing in UFOs are two completely different things and aren't closely related to the same thought processes. By and large I also agree with his assessment. I would say that other life out there somewhere in the universe is pretty much a given. Statistically it just seems ridiculous to think otherwise. I think that other intelligent life, advanced enough to travel around space - and visit us in particular - is much more iffy, but certainly possible. Ghosts? I'm remarkably neutral. Intellectually I'm inclined to not believe in them; spiritually I'm inclined to give them some credence. If I had to pick I'd say I don't believe in them, but it's not a "no way" kind of a no, it's more of a shrug with a "I don't really think so." I'd take the whole thing pretty casually. If it turned out ghosts did exist the extent of my reaction would be along the lines of, "oh well, guess I was wrong." Sort of like saying, "nah, I don't think it's going to rain," only to hear thunder an hour later. No big shocker, just not really what I was expecting. I don't really care either. I have no particular reason to assume they are either unilaterally malicious or benevolent. If they are the incarnation of people deceased, then I imagine the vast majority are pretty well balanced between mean and kind - just like living people. So I don't really care if they exist either. I mean not from a, "oh no they're going to get me" perspective nor from a "yay someone to protect me," perspective. If anything, I'd just be a bit annoyed that they might be invading my privacy. Eh, just my thoughts, -Kevin