Adiel333

Imagine my joy of coming home from another hard day to discover another chapter of the greatest story ever told had been posted. And after a long hard month of waiting on pins and needles for the much anticipated “date” I was not disappointed. I have to say, one of my favorite elements of this chapter was the aquarium. As we learn more and more about Haze, we realize what a horrific home life he must have with this overbearing, controlling, emotionally abusive and almost sociopathic mother. It is then so fun to see this aquarium, this literal bright ray of sunshine for Haze in this house otherwise full of nothing but misery and pain. You then realize why it was so important for him to show this to Blake and to have him appreciate it, as this aquarium, for Haze, at times, I am sure has represented his one source of joy and the fish the few friends who he knew he could trust no matter what in this bleak environment he has been living in. Pure genius by you Acedias to literally bring the reef (the one place where Haze is both most alive and at peace) and set this miniature version of it into Haze’s room. Another thing that so draws me to this story is the synergy that our favorite author has created between the two characters of Haze and Blake. Sticking with the aquarium theme, it is much like Jonah and his anemone where Jonah needs the anemone for protection and the anemone needs the clown fish for nutrients and protection as well. In this relationship between the two boys, they both give to the other what the other so desperately needs. For Blake, that is faith and belief in himself and for Haze, that is faith and belief in other people. And with time I believe that they, like Jonah and the Anemone, will do anything to protect and preserve this connection that they have established with the other. They both literally represent the perfect medicine to heal the deep wounds that have been festering for so long in the other character’s soul. Finally, it was wonderful to get to know Haze a bit better in this chapter and understand some of the motives behind his actions in earlier chapters, like when Haze after Blake asked him to “be real,” came back at Blake with the same question as he obviously believed our nervous hunk to be another one of his mother’s paid assassins. But then, like the evil genius you are, gave us another even bigger question in who is this twin Haze? How does he play into this toxic family relationship that currently exists? How was Haze ever having a “real smile” around that awful Patty character? J Overall, such a wonderful chapter. The two things I am probably most anxiously waiting to see is how Blake will ever convince Haze that what his mother has done has never been in his best interest and only about keeping her so called “social status” intact and how Haze will ever convince Blake to take his shirt off and allow Haze to help Blake absorb the fact that his outside truly is as beautiful as his inside. I know we are due for some drama next chapter as obviously things have been a bit on the lighter side the last 2 ½ chapters and I can feel you itching to throw in some curve balls. And I have to say I welcome them because more drama equals more plot and more plot equals a longer story and right now I am nowhere near ready to see “A New Life” end as I want these characters to continue to be a part of my life for months and hopefully maybe even years to come. Cheers to you Acedias and the spell binding chapters you continue to present. I hope you realize through the wonderful reviews you have gotten how much your story and character’s mean to all of your adoring fans!! PS: I have wracked my brain and still cannot think of what type of fish Pokey could be, please help me!!

Maybe it is just absence that makes the heart grow fonder, but OH WHAT A CHAPTER!!! In this world, there are only three things guaranteed to keep me smiling for days and they are a Nebraska Cornhuskers victory, Eric Bana in any state of undress and a new “A New Life” chapter. I don’t know what all went down with you and the illness these past couple months but somehow you metamorphosized from a writing genius into a writing God. I don’t even know where to start with this chapter. The way you can manipulate emotions is simply breathtaking. The power and feeling you are able to convey with just a simple facial caress most people can’t even work into orgy scenes. I just keep thinking about the line from “The Grinch who Stole Christmas” where he states that “my heart has grown three sizes this day.” And I think that is what happened to me while reading this story. You go from feeling the deep sadness and loathing Blake is feeling at the beginning of this, to an absolute internal joy and warmth that I just have never experienced from a story before. I am so fascinated by Haze’s character and I think we are just starting to scratch the surface of what all lays inside of him. There is still so much to learn about his past and how he has evolved into this current state of deep repression. I don’t know what all his mother has done to him but it feels like a whole lot of emotional abuse. That is one sick family. SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!! I am literally on pins and needles waiting for their date. It also is wonderful watching the shy, nervous, unsure Blake turn into Haze’s rock of support, expertly done. My hat is off to you sir. I know more drama still lies ahead but with scenes like the one at the end of this chapter, it will be more than worth it. Like the energizer bunny, you just keep going strong; the only difference is you keep getting better and better.

Even though this is a WAY late review, I MUST review this chapter. In my mind, one of the hardest thing to do in writing is to portray real, honest emotions and to make your readers feel that emotion within themselves. This is hard enough to do when characters are talking/speaking with each other, but to portray the deep emotions that we feel in this chapter with absolutely no dialogue going on between the characters is pure GENIUS and I take my hat off to you sir. As I read this, you can feel the wonder of the reef in Blake's eyes, you can feel his anxiety/shame when his oxygen is low and finally you can feel his thrill/joy when Haze holds his hand and blows bubbles to ease his tension. I could never believe that I could feel butterflies in my stomach from just a simple gesture of handholding in a story but with the brilliant manipulation of emotions you are capable of, even this small gesture had me smiling for weeks because you could feel how much it meant to Blake. I also love how you are able to portray your love of diving to us. Even though I have never dived, after this chapter I feel even stronger about wanting to get down to Australia and besides seeing the Australia Zoo, (to pay homeage to Steve Irwin) to experience the diving on the reefs. You are able to portray your passion and love for the sport so wonderfully that it just makes it infectious for we the readers to want to try and experience that too and feel the kind of love for it that you obviously do.

Long time reader, first time reviewer. First off, this is THE greatest gay fiction I have EVER read, the sole reason I joined GA and the highlight of my day whenever it is updated. This chapter surprised me (I expected more emotional growth between the boys) but looking back at these two, in my mind this chapter does fit better than that would have. For Haze, this was not just solely about wanting some physical lovin. This was years of pent up emotions coming to the fore front. He has suppressed his own feelings and his own emotions in order to please others (ie his mother) for so long that he is prone to these emotional explosions like the destroying of the Christmas party and this chapters boat makeout session (EXTREMELY hott by the way!!!). The big question is now what happens to Haze now that he has crossed that line? We saw the conflict clearly in his face in this chapter. The internal debate of do I do what brings me happiness (be with Blake) or what will please my mother and the society she is a part of. History would tell us that we are due for some pretty good angst soon. But like our brilliant author mentioned before, I think they have taken too many steps forward to regress too far backward. Perhaps the cyclone will force them together for a long enough period of time that they are forced to talk through some of their emotions? Either way, I eagerly await the next chapter as the emotional barriers continue to be torn down. Well, I could talk forever about these characters but I had better wrap this up. I appreciate the way you have slowly developed Blake and Haze so that we the reader can get a better sense of who they are and why they funciton as they do. Personally, I am hoping for some more Haze/Blake diving scenes as Ch. 8 remains my favorite chapter so far with the two boys connecting in the environment that brings them both the most joy and peace and that allows their true selves to shine through.