Timothy M.

Thank you, my friend, such praise means a lot, and even more so coming from someone who has shown his own strength as a writer.I think writing my prompt story may have helped me improve my skills, and I can feel the difference too. I'm not afraid of writing dialogue and showing rather than telling, as you point out, but it's also due to the great feedback from my readers which give me confidence and ideas and motivation. I'm you say you can see Russ emerging from the interaction and his memories. This was exactly what I hoped to achieve.

You're quite right, Evan needs Russ at lot more than Russell realizes. Evan has been strong for his twin for years, willingly and happily, but those three months where he could not get in touch with Russ were very hard on Evan. Their mother only thought of Russ' safety and well-being and never considered the impact on her other son. Chris meant it seriously when he asked Russ to "Promise me you won’t disappear on him again, Russell. I don’t think Evan could cope."

Hmm so my hopes for Benny and Linda are shot to hell, but now we know why the wrestler was happy to help contain Zane, apart from Benny being a nice guy. Bobby seems to be trying to talk some sense into his friend, I'm not sure it will work at first, ie while he is still at school, but he may take the opportunity later and change for the better in a new environment. Maybe the Army? Greg (Kurt) certainly has good gaydar, and I like him for using it to help other guys to find (boy)friends and have trust in the possibility of a good life. I loved the way he suprised Miles and the other two at the end, I think he enjoys shocking people.

I shall be more than happy to have my fears proved wrong - but I'm not sure I'll like it better if you let Zach's career end with a leg injury too. But I suppose that would make some sort of parallel since Streak has been about two athletes in the closet. Oh and the story description of Brad: Learning to be a single guy. didn't quite happen, did it? And the first line of my review for ch 48 works for ch 49 too.

I woke up feeling hot, thirsty, grotty and with an aching need to piss. Stumbling out of bed and into the bathroom I noticed Jacob was sitting at the table in the living room, apparently studying hard. After dealing with my most urgent need I drank a lot of cold water. I'd found Danish water to be great tasting straight from the tap, no need for the bottled variety around here. I’d seen Jacob fill bottles to put in the fridge, and he explained how protective Denmark is about their groundwater as

I loved the fact Ishca is making such a difference to the artists. I'm waiting for him to find buyers for Aki's art, too. Surely Aki must know Gianni and any other artists in the studio who work with clay? And isn't it just like Ishca to causally drop a bomb shell like that. But it's clever, since Aki was relaxed beforehand and he now has time to deal with the idea before Hel comes home.

I'm not worried about Hel's crush on James. He's a teen, easily distracted, and I bet there is nothing sexual about him when he's a spirit animal and plays with James' wolf. And since James is likely to spend most of the visit that way, in order to enjoy having a four-legged companion, they can connect without the distraction of He's emerging sexuality. Plus when Hel gets back home, his memories of James will be wolf-shaped rather than naked-body.

Ishca is a natual caretaker because happiness and appreciation are more than just words said. Next time he hands Hel a lunch pack he'll feel the boy's happy anticipation and pleasure and perhaps even gratitude, in spite of Hel being a teen, lol. Perhaps he'll be the one to get Hel a gym membership and help him build muscles. Aki will be the one who'll stand proudly at the side of the cricket field while Hel plays, and he'll create tiny figures of his foster son bowling and batting and running. I hope sports will not be the only focus in Hel's school life, but it's nice for him to have a way to become part of the student body quickly.

As an empath, Ishca is more or less forced to deal with Hel's unhappiness, since it must grate on his senses. And I guess sending Hel to school once he was fit enough was so obvious to Ishca he was genuinely surprised Aki hadn't thought about it. But I'll give Aki the benefit of the doubt, since he's not had a permanent ward until now, and Hel's physical and spiritual needs were so much more obvious and well taken care off by Ishca and James. Plus once Aki had a purpose and direction he embraced his duty fully. Hopefully, school will be the solution for now.

Let me guess Ig was the only male in Ishca's life so far whom he hasn't been able to distract with sex. Must have been a bit of a shock to find out Aki wasn't distracted either, or at least only momentarily. But Ishca predicted it himself just before he cut Hel's hair, so he shouldn't be surprised Aki expected him to get a job. I'm glad Ishca found a nice woman to help him, and made her day better at the same time. I hope he'll call Ig and tell him the good news about his new Public Relations job. Good one, Caz.

So the answer to Ishca's question was to adopt Hel and give him a new identity along the way. Great. The extra benefit was Hel getting a good mentor in James who can relate to the freaked-out loss-of control feelings. Having controlled it once, Hel now knows it's possible so this should lessen the risk of an involuntary out-of-body experience. And while James can be annoying as hell with his teasing, he's got plenty of good qualities too.

This was a great chapter to come back to, so many interesting details I missed the first time. Like trying to imagine how being coloured by vampires would make an empath look to a spirit animal. Or being upset on Aki's behalf with him being underpaid but happy he's got a lodger who can cook. Also knowing where the story is heading allows me to chuckle about Aki feeling the Universe is out to get him by sending Ischa and Hel to stay.

Lots of positive developments in this chapter - it's almost like you gave us a birthday present rather than the other way round. The Blues are committed to Ty. (like Maarten I love O'Malley for pulling that stunt.) The Bombers may want Jim. Jim and Ty will go back to the Leopards and convince their teammates to work even harder, which will please Peter and Julie and make the team better. Jim needs to get comfortable with being openly gay, and his teammates are doing their best to help. Neil and Liam are now boyfriends. Neil encouraged Liam to spend time with Doug, and Liam realized he was right. Clarissa was made to see that sometimes it's good to think again before stating her POV. Liam and Doug teamed up against the bigots at the school. Surely there can't be that many students left to teach the errors of their ways. But at least Doug has someone else to bully instead of Neil. I think that's it for now, but otherwise I'll list the rest in the forum.

Did anyone else notice Chelsea almost saying father instead of pastor at one point ? Bonus points to Silas for realizing she's lonely, even with Tara as a friend. I can't shake the feeling Tara is connected to Jenny. Perhaps a younger sister of Ian's wife / husband? Yet if she was Jenny's daughter I somehow can't see her doing the rebellious emo style. And maybe Adam should wonder who called Higgins after Tara outed Drake to the whole café, stupid girl. Although he might not have witnessed that, since I'm sure Drake would have noticed Adam, if he'd been helping customers. We never found out why Chelsea and Tara were having an awkward moment, but you sure didn't lie when you said this chapter would taken an unexpected dramatic turn. Poor Chelsea and I'm now even more with the bitchy bigoted police officer. Wanna bet Tara will be the one to discover the latest hit of the Xroad Demons ?

Hi Carlos, I heard rumor of multiple cliffies, so snuck in to read this chapter. At first, I wondered how the vice cop knew CJ was gay but then I remembered his Rainbow bandana. Other reviewers have already commented on the HUGE mistake by that guy in arresting a minor with heavy duty connections, so I won't comment on that except to say I agree. But my other feeling was that CJ is probably clever enough to keep his mouth shut at first, in order to find out how deep this scheme runs. Ie if he tells his age and his dads' names to the cop arresting him, they'll probably let him go, and then he has no evidence. But if he lets them take him in and make the arrest formal (including finding out who their boss is) he can potentially help other peope falsely arrested by exposing the whole thing. His dads will be so proud of him. Oh and I loved the background story of your former clients. Hope you have a nice break and a great bike ride.

Sorry I missed it, but at least it's still your birthday here for another couple of hours. So Tillykke med fødselsdagen !

:no:

Fucking amazing. I'm with Rex, loved the names of the bands, particularly Demons of the Crossroad. Did that name come after they almost fell apart? The magic moment created by weaving a song from and ending the performance with projecting their feelings about Silas was beautifully done and so fitting he should be part of the biggest moment of the band's history so far. I'm glad Mickey was rewarded for giving the band a chance by their success (judging from the reaction of the audience). I hope there's a music critic present the next night and he gives them a glowing review. Being a popular warm-up band can be crucial at this moment of their career, right?

A most interesting chapter and reading the various view points in the reviews only made it better. I tend to fall on the side not blaming Drake at all for his reaction to Jenny. We don't know what he's gone through in those two years, how much he's had to harden his heart and suppress his need for love and care in order to survive. And thinking about it I have three additional factors which could explain the way Silas overreacted. He'd already had one dangerous woman snooping and meddling in his affairs today. He couldn't very well tell the policewoman to fuck off, but his frustration from that encounter might have added to his temper here. Jenny is particularly 'dangerous' because she is a mother - and she reminds Silas of his own parents at the time he was loved unconditionally. Nothing has a better potential of breeching his defenses, and since he isn't ready for that, he needs to push her away as fast and effieciently as possible. He is a cornered animal lashing out, not a rational being. Why isn't he happy about hearing Ian has done all those things to get in touch? Well, apart from the whole 'abandonded eight-year-old' issue, learning the truth about why Ian left (his parents' disapproval) is tied to his own emerging identity crisis and eventual running away from home. He has had no chance to talk to anyone about this (and I remember him thinking he needed to, and hoped Ian might be the solution), and in the same way he hasn't deal with his feelings about Ian leaving. He coped by 'hating' his Brother, and you don't get rid of such an emotion, no matter how irrational, just like that, when learning the truth. Particularly not while being stressed-out already. I don't know whether any of the above has merit, I shall now proceed to the forum, and perhaps get more answers.

So Drake quickly learned to capitalize on looking young and bashful when hustling, huh? It's sad but also a testimony to his intelligence and good instincts about people. And having Adelaide by his side would have protected him from those who might have wanted to cheat him or force him. Look how protective she became when he tensed at the arrival of the police car. I also noted how Drake didn't overreact but stayed calm and pretended with great skill, offering the minimum of replies in order to elicit information - and him knowing he needed to find a way to talk to Ian if he could, was another sign of the maturity which endears him to me. (Oh and I'm out of likes for today, so you'll have to wait for more of those.)

What an interesting way of explaining Drake's issues with letting people get close. I loved this chapter for showing us the dynamic and tight-knit friendship of the band and at the same time letting us know Brady will be there for Silas when he's ready to trust and love again. And we already know who hurt Silas: his brother by abandoning him, his parents by rejecting him unless he lied about himself, the Church (ie everyone in his surroundings) by not accepting his sexuality. I prescribe the following therapy/cure for Drake: his brother to represent Family love and approval, Chelsea to be the religious acceptance, he's already had the band as friends accepting him, and hopefully he'll become ready for the final step: the love of a man worthy of Silas and good for him. Does Brady know Drake has Jack's number? Or is this another little secret kept by his best friend, lol?

How sad to see the innocence, trust and honesty of a young teen betrayed and berated by the people who should care for him. I suppose we cannot really blame the boy Slias liked for not keeping it a secret, because no matter whether he felt the same or not, the emotions might be too difficult for him to handle. But it's hard to forgive his parents for putting such pressure on him. I've always found it sad that a church, which for a short time in the past had a less strict view and diverged enought from the prudish victorian ideals and the mainline Christian faith to allow polygamy (which I'm OK with), did not manage to develop an equally accepting attitude to the love between two men. It's so heartbreaking to see the interviews with the young Mormon men who want to belong to their church, are adamant to stay pure until they are married, are good and caring people, yet still face rejection and condemnation. It makes me wanna Chelsea obviously knows her church is wrong too, and I wonder how she learnt that. But perhaps the other half of the town has some influence on what is taught and thought? Adelaide is great, but why do you have Drake treat her like a human? All dogs can drink from puddles or streams without danger, except for special circumstances. I naturally assumed Drake was making water for his own consumption, and he even needed to do so as per the next part. So giving the boiled water to the dog was weird, IMO.

I'm impressed with the way you give us hints about Drake's character and background story via his interactions with the band members and the casual comments along the way. He's been on the run since before (or just after) he was fifteen. There's been a 'life of crime', but we surmise it's been nothing really bad, since Drake is too intelligent for that. He thinks about things, he is good at reading people and he plans ahead. We learn he's gay and attracted to Brady, but whether it's mutual, I wasn't quite sure. He seems afraid of becoming attached, but why ? Since I've read the next chapters I won't speculate. The manager of the diner, I thought father at first, but then the reaction of the dog might go better with brother, although why Silas got so scared and ran away was very much a mystery and surprise. Did the woman recognize his surname? or perhaps even see the similarity with the cook? In hindsight some of her reactions were odd.

Fair enough, I'll accept getting the view they wanted meant only three bedrooms were available. But I'm sure Brad could have afforded a comfortable sofa-that-folds-out-to-a-bed in his office, if he wanted to. The fact remains Brad considers the condo a private place for him and Marc and noone else. He wasn't even happy to have Will and JP visit (did you notice how surprised JP was that Will hadn't seen the place yet?). I'm not saying Brad doesn't have the right to feel that way, but then he should have done the Sunday dinners with his Family, as Will suggested. If nothing else for the sake of Marc, who probaby would like to spend time with Brad's family. He certainly seemed happy to see JP and Will, and I cannot help feeling Marc might be a tad freaked out about Brad being all possessive and keeping his lover away from everyone else. Or am I seeing ghosts ?

just avoid post 46 on page 2 and post 52 on the top of page 3 https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/topic/37906-spiders/?p=451688 and Zombie's post 78 at the top of page 4 (+ quoted in post 84 a bit further down) https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/topic/37906-spiders/?p=467819 then you can browse and enjoy the rest of the topic