Irritable1

I'm with Kitt---what is gay art? Is a Mapplethorpe nude devoid of value to a straight audience because it might have an erotic aspect to a male gay viewer? Or how about the works of Elizabeth Bishop? Or could you turn it around and argue that an interest in, I don't even know, Robert Bly or Charlotte Bronte means that people will think a gay reader is straight? Then you've got the whole realm of erotica, which is a whole additional kettle of Freudian fish. My take is that people I don't care about will choose to believe whatever appeals most to their prurience, and people I do care about will be interested in what I'm interested in because they care about me. Edit: but I must admit that I have a rather defensive attitude about this stuff because my reading and viewing have always been a little bit off the beaten path for my nerdy milieu, no matter how mundane I thought they were, and I've come to think of the question "Why do you..." as sort of hopeless when it comes to art... I can answer it, but it's always come as more of a challenge than a real attempt at getting information.

My condolences to his friends here.

I'm fine with the "kiss me" repetition, it gives the poem a pleasing cadence. I think though that the cadence and repetition give an impression of an approach to some kind of emotional climax, which doesn't quite come off. Still an enjoyable read though.

I was thinking, "I know exactly how that feels," right down to promising they can sleep in the car... but then there was the oddity of the clothes... and then he turns into a wolf... so I guess I don't know exactly how that feels. Fun story!

Yay! This story is such a great mixture of the fantastic and the mundane: when that vile bubble in the bowl popped I was convinced an evil spirit had been released or something, but no, it's just old pudding or soup... and the "wash between uses crack"...

I am loving this romance! Can't wait for the next chapter. Why do I have a nasty feeling about Trevor already? Could it be he's going to recur?

I loved the unusual writing voice you used. It was very poetic and graphic. Really a pleasure to read! I will admit I'm surprised Basil accepted Will's presence so meekly. After the last instalment I was expecting an epic battle...

I drive the Big Blue Mom Minivan. Plenty of room for brats, visitors, visiting brats, bikes, etc. We've managed to stuff it with 7 people and car camping supplies, food, and toys, for a week. When it's at capacity with 3 generations and all our crap, and I'm driving, I feel like Noah piloting the Ark. I love it with all my heart :-)

Foreskin reconstruction!!

I knew someone, a family friend, who committed a crime like this because he was mentally ill and his psychiatrists didn't understand how badly off he really was. They sent him home, and the very worst happened... That guy is probably going to be under some kind of supervision forever, but initially he didn't go to prison, but to a mental facility for people who'd committed crimes. I think he was there more than 10 years. I was pretty scared when I heard that my brother was going to reopen contact with our friend, because at first he'd written some long rambling letters to people that certainly made him sound unrepentant. But nothing's happened. They're more or less in touch, the family friend is normal-acting now, he's getting treatment, he hasn't hurt anyone since. It sounds like he's living his destroyed life as well as anyone can after having committed such a crime. It's really hard to understand what happened to this other kid... but I feel suspicious that he was mentally ill and probably hasn't had mental care during his imprisonment, just because Texas isn't famed for good treatment of prisoners or a nuanced approach to teenage crime So maybe he is actually still dangerous. Still, you'd think he'd be under monitoring for the rest of his life. I disagree with the evil-kid thing too. For some reason I number a good few special ed teachers among my friends and relatives, and they do have to deal with kids who have emotional disabilities, and are too aggressive or dangerous to be in a classroom. These teachers occasionally talk about a "bad seed" that they've been truly scared by, but such children are, even in their experience of difficult kids, quite rare. I know there's a lot of talk about sociopathy in the media but honestly I think it's a lot easier to train someone into the attributes of evil, through abuse and neglect, than to create a monster fresh.

Hm. Kiaza may not be wholly dedicated to evil but I'm starting to wonder about Jem. Dude's clearly found his niche. And yeah, it was all so sweet till that moment.

Hee. I picked that moniker on a rough day and now I roll it over to all fora because I can remember it and it's almost never taken already. Edit: you'd be amazed at the popularity of soccermom71

Hi everyone. I'm showing no signs of beating my GA story addiction, so I thought I'd check in officially. I'm a writer of sorts myself, but not of the fun stuff so watching fiction in progress is a huge treat for me

"The salamanders got out of hand" is right up there with "a gay bear who's a gay bear" in sheer wolffish lunacy. And I can totally see Jem kicking demons out of a pub in Hell.

Oooo, now this is intriguing... it makes sense that Kiaza couldn't've gotten away from the earlier debacle without paying some kind of price... but why hasn't he mentioned it yet? I love how Jeremiah almost seems to be bullying the demons. Definitely my second favorite character.

Hm. I'm totally not complaining, you understand, but these demons are a bit... sweet and lovable. Did Kiaza just reform his wicked ways?

I just love what a sap Zupan is for Zander. That first encounter was completely terrible, enough to ruin anyone's evening... but Zupan's good to go for another round of introductions, because it'll make Zander happy, and what more does he need to know? You've done such a great job of showing-not-telling with your writing in this whole series, but I think this is my favorite chapter because it's when I perceive the balance tipping completely over from Zupan still trying to be a tough guy to Zupan being an utter pushover for Zander. Though the other incidents (shower room, ring, puppy, etc.) are pretty fantastic too.

Hmmm. I have some experience with depression and anxiety myself, and I have to say you've really stacked the odds against Mark... Temporary breakup, attempt at self-medication, long distance relationship, falling into a mental hole, public outing, worldwide notoriety, and then a horrible beating, all in the space of a few months... Ben would need to be an absolutely superb partner to counterbalance all these stressors. I hope the poor guy gets a bit of a break by the end of the story!

Wow, reheated coffee for someone with an upset stomach, coming down from MDMA? That is brutal! Poor devasted young Mark, too, I feel terrible for him...

Poor dumb Reagan. Maybe it's time for Nicholas to make himself useful...

Love this series so much that I got a login just to say this Your stories are incredibly good and I've blasted through most of them in about 3 days... And I'm commenting on this particular instalment because... I consider myself a tough reader, and I adore both MC's in all their foul-mouthed glory, but OMG, when Marcus said, "don't know where you've fucking been, do I?" after having abandoned Jacob for a decade--I gasped out loud and teared up a little bit, like I'd been slapped. Something about that particular jab was just... VERY successful, and it really makes one see how Marcus could reduce his editorial staff to tears, over and above just being creative with the obscenities... So thank you for that piece of sadistically good writing Seriously, very much looking forward to whatever comes next! Thanks again.