Thorn Wilde

It was. As I said in other comments, it wasn't even the plan. I just got to this point in the story and knew this was what had to happen. It was frustrating af. And this whole development is the second unplanned plot development in the series I lost readers over. lol

Hah, by now you already know you'll have to do some reading before that actually happens.... lol Thank you for continuing to read and comment. I'm dreading a little to see what you have to say of the developments that follow... though the fact that you've kept commenting is a good sign. 😅

For all their differences, Matt and Alan complement each other well, I think. They're a bit yin and yang, and that works for them. You're right, I think, that Alan wouldn't have been a good match for either Dave or Nick. I'm glad you enjoyed this little story. Thanks for commenting!

Dave really is perfect, isn't he? I sometimes worry I made him too perfect... lol Thanks as ever for taking the time to comment!

That's a wonderful quality. I assume it's Stuart's slightly brash personality and tendency to just speak his mind without reservation that made people suspicious of him... I personally found those qualities endearing. His personality is an amalgamation of several neuro-diverse friends of mine. Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I really appreciate it. ❤️ Hehe, yeah, Nick's not bad at spotting potential matches for the people in his life... He's got a knack there.

Exactly. My comment was more related to the fact that the thing that appears to bother people a lot of the time is the term 'trigger warning' itself, partly because they have a mistaken understanding of what a trigger is, which you explained very well (and which was why I quoted you). The term seems to cause offence more than the concept of placing warnings on content, which is something that has been done on TV, for instance, for years without any significant number of people getting up in arms about it. The term 'trigger warning' seems to carry baggage, which is why a lot of people no longer use it, opting for 'content warning' instead. Given how misused the word 'trigger' has been in the past few years (no doubt related to the misuse of terms related to mental illness as insults or jokes, but that's a bigger discussion), I suppose it's not surprising that people want to distance themselves from it, so as not to provoke offence.

This is a very important point. It's also worth noting that, technically, the word trigger warning isn't used anywhere on this site in an official capacity (as far as I'm aware, anyway). The submission guidelines say stories must 'include written warnings in the story note and each chapter note that contains questionable content so readers sensitive to these subjects will not be unaware of the story's themes.' Trigger isn't mentioned. That's a matter of interpretation. I always call mine content warnings rather than trigger warnings.

I'll never understand the 'yuck' reaction, tbh... It's strange to me. I don't like raw bell pepper, but I don't say 'yuck' when I see other people eating it.

Should I be putting 'Trigger Warning: Vagina' on my trans dude stories, maybe? 🤔

Thank you! Again, I hope you keep feeling that way... lol

I'm glad you liked it! I both love and hate writing music scenes... I love it because I love music and it's often an integral part of my characters' lives. I hate it because it's so hard to express musical artistry in words alone. I'm glad it worked for you. Thanks for all your lovely comments!

Craig's lawyer is a slippery fuck, but thankfully, in a case involving minors, he has less liberty to be absolutely awful. As far as I gathered from my research, when the victim is a minor, the defence don't get to cross examine, for instance. In the UK, anyway. A bit more... civilised than what you see on American TV. I'm glad you found it believable. As you may know by now, we don't get to see Craig's dad's testimony. The behind-the-scenes long and short of it is that Craig left Zoë's house after the incident and went to his father, Paul, (step-father, really, but he grew up with him as his only dad and shares his surname), so Paul saw him immediately after the fact and how it affected him. There's a bonus story of sorts in the Hubris collection (side-pieces; if you click on Nemesisverse next to the title of this story on the title page you'll find them; there are some spoilers, so don't rush ahead with reading them) that deals with Craig's backstory and some of the circumstances surrounding the trial, but it's a tough read so a lot of people skip it. Thank you again for commenting!

Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I hope that will continue... There are some things coming up that certain readers were unhappy with... lol Zoë is a wonderful human being. Nick is very lucky to have her; luckier than he realises, probably. And Dave's mum has some hidden depths. By now you already know how the trial went, so there's no need for me to comment on that.

Coming out was less of a big deal than Dave had feared, that's for sure. Thank you for taking the time to comment!

I like Mandi's parents. I'm happy with how they turned out. And yeah, butter chicken is amazing! Thanks for commenting.

If I read Talo's response correctly, I think that was his exact point, since some people in this thread have conflated the two.

No reason why you can't tell us about all three.

It's like you know Stuart already. The 'Your Mother' thing was actually something a friend of mine came up with, like, 15 years ago or something. I've since lost touch with that friend, but the joke stuck with me so I couldn't help but include it here. Glad it gave you joy. lol

It's nice to have a reader who's not immediately suspicious of Stuart. Thanks for commenting!

Thanks, I hope you stick with it! I appreciate your comments.

Both those covers are awesome, though. The first one looks really classic sci-fi, while the second is more comic book in nature, which I guess if what you're going for. Good job!

So sweet! I love the two of them. And now they're boyfriends! Good job. Btw, I've been meaning to ask. Taran's name. Is the stress on the first or second syllable? TA-ran or ta-RAN?

These were so beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Music is hugely important to Nick (probably in part because it's hugely important to me), so it had to play a role in the story. When I decided to make Placebo his favourite band, it made sense to incorporate that somehow into the story. Thanks for all your comments!