Aaron Penrose

No, thank you for reviewing! Yeah, I know the theme is a bit predictable/generic, but I wanted to write this to have something easy. But I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve! Henry and his family are much less stereotypical.

I do love the name Dallas. The Outsiders has a permanent home on my shelf. Dallas isn't necessarily named after the Dallas from the novel but there are a lot of similarities between them. Thank you so much for reviewing!

Thank you, it's been lovely so far. I know it's incredibly difficult for most people to synthesize and, thank you, I needed the reminder to be patient. It's just hard. Specifically what I was talking about was when established friends who know I'm trans tease/question me about being girly. I know they aren't trying to be hurtful, but. I know I have to be patient. You're right--after a lifetime of not fitting in, I don't have any trouble coming to grips with differences in others, so oftentimes I get frustrated when someone can't get with the program. In my head, I'm just a dude and that's that and everyone else had better deal, lol. Thank you for the advice, Cia.

Thank you everyone for your kind words. I wouldn't mind the compliments if they weren't directly related to my gender. I guess that's what I was trying to convey with this post in the first place. It's not that I don't appreciate the compliment about my physical appearance--that is always nice. But nonetheless it is a horribly painful reminder that I can never physically be the person I am supposed to be. I can't tune that out. I'm not angry at the well-meaning people giving me compliments. I'm angry that they're so blinded by my appearance. That they base their perception of me and my gender on my girlish looks and not my actions.

Hi GA. Welcome to the first installment of my genderqueer rants. I have been hankering to get this off my chest for quite a while and this seemed like the best place to do it, so I'm just going to jump right in. Something I encounter very frequently, particularly among well-meaning gay men, is this incredibly disturbing mentality usually characterized by something like the following conversation: Him: So you want to be a man. Me: Yes. Well, not want to--am. I just don't look like one. Him: ... Why? Me: .... *bewildered* So the inside matches the outside, I guess? Let's say for the sake of continuity. Him: .... But Aaron, you're so pretty. You must attract tons of guys already. You could have any guy you wanted. If you're so into men, why on earth would you want to change that? Me: Because I don't want to be pretty, okay? I want to be you. And that is the point at which I am (again) reduced to a spluttering, furious mess. It makes me feel like I'm being perceived as a whiny, inchoate little girl. There is nothing worse. I know they're just stating what's most obvious to them and trying to make a joke, but it completely undermines my feelings and feeds into my awful masculinity complex. Please, if there are any beautiful transmen in your lives, never back them into a corner in this fashion. Don't question their manhood. Even if it seems like lighthearted banter, it hurts. It makes them feel alienated. If you care about them, please, for the love of God, NEVER for a moment allow their physical appearance to eclipse their latent manliness. tl;dr your senseless rant version: Just because I am barely five feet tall and I look like Shirley Temple does not mean my balls aren't god damn enormous. Thank you.

LOL That aside, I must disagree. I think it's very important for "celebrated individuals" to come out to an ovation, whether anticipated or not. It helps to better establish homosexuality as a cultural norm. People need to see that it should be applauded.

“Dallas, your father and I have fallen on some hard times ourselves, sweetie. We just can’t support you right now. I’m sorry.” He stared at his mother dumbly. What? A thousand things reeled through his mind at once. Bitch, you’re providing for another kid. Why not me? I’m your son, too. You’re doing this to me just because I didn’t go to college, you vindictive fuckheads. Sell that motherfucking BMW if you’re supposedly on “hard times.” Where the hell am I supposed to go? “Mom, I just sai

When Dallas finds himself out of a residence, he’s forced to go live with his ultra-conservative grandmother who is hell-bent on “beating the devil out of him.” Church three times a week, counseling with the youth minister, and a curfew? Dallas is certain his life is over until a cute, single gay boy shows up right across the street. Sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Dallas sure thinks it is. But when he starts falling madly in love with a man he cannot have, things get messy.

I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing, and in the course of my searching I found this. The advice is pretty generic, but it does address a few things unique to writing gay fiction so I thought I would share it with you all. I got a lot out of it. I need to put a sticky note on my laptop that says something like "VERILY LESS ADVERBS" posthaste. Click! Any things on the list you're particularly bad about? Or anything that is an especial pet peeve of yours?

Actually my word choice there was totally random, lol. I worked in a mall for several years and I remember all of the nice jewelry stores there being really dark with a spotlight on the goods. But I'm glad you read into it more than I did! You make an interesting point. Perhaps he was attracted more to that store in particular because it was so dark inside, offering him a refuge from the anxieties in the brighter mall. Thank you for the review!

Thank you! And thank you for a great prompt that inspired me to make something I'm really proud of.

So glad you enjoyed it. Life can be funny that way, can't it? Moments that seem insignificant at the time turn out to be the ones that influence us most.

Wonderful use of words! Thank you! I was worried I was forcing the extended metaphor a bit much, so that's reassuring.

This bit: "... screeching between the crevices of your teeth" gave me chills! Really excellent and descriptive writing. A beautiful account of someone who conquers loneliness and inadequacy by stepping on the backs of others. Following this. I love prose.

Sterling was sick to death of this mall. The mall was pretty damn sick of them, too, judging by the way all the managers glared daggers at the five of them from behind their glass storefronts, as if daring them to set foot inside, daring them to stuff their sagging, oversized Ed Hardy jeans with their worthless merchandise and make a run for it. And that’s precisely what they would do. They weren’t exactly unpredictable. Five black teenagers dressed like thugs rarely failed to intimidate, and S

Repository for prompts. I'm a regular ol' writing prompt junkie. http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/forum/97-writing-prompts/

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! Oh wow, that's really interesting. I'd definitely enjoy something like that, but unfortunately I am not nearly creative enough to be a fantasy writer, lol. I'm absolutely intrigued by the concept of a collaborative anthology, though. So much so that I am now toying with the idea of creating something similar in a modern/realistic setting. Oh no, I meant roleplaying as in writer-on-writer story-building. Group roleplaying is also immensely popular but I always enjoyed one-on-one much more because you develop a personal relationship with your co-writer. If you enjoy writing and writing with friends, check out Elliquiy. It's the most prolific adult RP forum on the web where you find the lowest incidence of mindless porn. I may just inquire about creating a little corner in the forums for roleplaying. I shall ask and hopefully I shall receive! I am definitely going to inquire about a little corner for roleplaying in the forums. I think the community here would enjoy it immensely. I'll have a look at the prompts and the challenges as well. Thanks! A little blue bear? Oh dear. Thank you for the warning sir! I don't know about a challenge (I'm not exactly the "challenge" type - I like to write at my own pace aka I'm slow as Christmas), but I'm certainly planning to get more involved. Haha, thank you. I certainly hope to stick around; I'm thoroughly enjoying the site thus far. Ohoho, now we're talking!

Hello GA! I joined a while ago and lost my nerve because of the wealth of excellent writing to be found here. You lot can be rather intimidating, you know? But now I am back and hoping to get some stories up soon! What sort of fun stuff may one get involved in 'round here? I see the story prompts. Is there anything that caters to roleplayers?