Cynus

I'm glad you liked it this much. I'm hoping you'll like chapter 20 just as much, as it will certainly do it's part in answering those pins and needles. While I wouldn't call this my favorite chapter (As that was 17), I do consider this one of the most important chapters in the story, since it's the beginning of the true conflict between Nobuyuki and Daisuke, which we've been building up to this whole time. If it's putting you on edge, it's doing its job. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Nobuyuki paced the room outside of Masahiro’s bedchamber. Dr. Yamaoka was inside, changing Masahiro’s bandages and giving him a thorough checkup, and Nobuyuki had decided to give them privacy. He’d been keeping an almost constant vigil over his father’s side, fearing that Daisuke might sneak back into the hotel somehow and attempt to kill him. Katsumi had been present nearly the entire time as well, but Nobuyuki didn’t trust even her to be alone with him. Although he’d considered her li

I wonder if you're right, too. I honestly wasn't trying to hide it very well, because this story is more about the characters figuring out who did it and why than about the reader having to guess. I didn't want to turn this into a mystery novel, after all. Intrigue is something I'm trying to build in most of my stories, but mystery is a struggle for me to write. One of my earliest attempts at a novel was a mystery fantasy story, and it simply didn't work. Daisuke definitely underestimated Masahiro. The question is, did it matter in the end? Thank you for the review!

Tokyo. I have a profound appreciation for Japanese Culture, and after living in Seoul for a couple of years I developed a taste for the big city life. Same Q

Congratulations, Cole! Welcome. I guess I can pass off the newbie duties to you?

Thanks, M. It's always good to know I'm not the only one dealing with these sorts of issues. Since starting this new story of mine, I've actually seen a way to continue the other. It isn't so bad, really, I was just going through a rough spot and nothing seemed to be working. I'm still going to finish the new one first, but I might switch immediately back to clicheville and finish it up after this. You have some good points here, Dave. I plan on returning to it when I'm done with "Fearless", and I'll go from there. At the time this started, I was incredibly frustrated with a number of things, and this was just one last straw to break the camel's back. Thanks, Roman. I think the mistake I've made in trying to write sequels in the past is that I've always attempted to write them differently than the first story. I don't normally outline heavily, but every sequel I've tried to write has felt like I needed to, and so I have. I already know the characters and what they're like, so outlining should be an easy way to speed up the process, right? Apparently not for me, and I need to learn that lesson. I just need to start writing the beginning and see where it takes me. Who knows? We might see a Navigator sequel before the end of the year. Yes, relaxing certainly sounds nice, doesn't it? Wish I knew how to do that. There are reasons for needing to be prolific which are out of my control, but it's certainly a stressful side of my writing strategy. This new one is fun for me. I don't know about it becoming any sort of literary masterpiece, but it is definitely fun. Hopefully it'll make my readers smile and laugh, and they'll not even realize the stress it took to write it. After all, four months of frustration are being poured into this lighthearted piece. Is the comedy writer's philosophy stone something which turns frustration and anger into laughs?

I look forward to you reading it, too. And it's going well. I'm already well into chapter 2 and I started yesterday.

Look forward to chapter 19, then. There's many a thing which will happen.

Nobuyuki settled into the seat at the café across from Vladimir, who looked up and smiled nervously. They shook hands in greeting and Nobuyuki said, “Thank you for meeting me so quickly this morning.” “Of course,” Vladimir replied, nodding once. “I’m as eager to get it into your hands as you are to receive it.” “So,” Nobuyuki said, glancing around impatiently. “Dimitry is bringing the recording?” Vladimir nodded again and replied, “Yes. He has a digital copy which our

I totally did, but thank you for your input all the same. I just started something, and I think I just fell in love. I'm writing a comedy! I've never written a comedy before!

I think you're both right, and I've started something new today, and by sheer coincidence, it seems I like it! We'll see how that holds up over the next few weeks, but it's going well so far.

For those of you who like/read my stories, I'm hoping you'll have some input to offer me right now. I'm at a bit of a crossroads, with time running out to make a decision, and I need to figure out where I'm headed. I finished writing "From The Cup of The Worhtless" in mid-December, and my editors finished with the later chapters in mid-January. It often takes me awhile to get back into writing after I've finished editing something that long, and so it didn't surprise me that it took me a few weeks before I even attempted to write something again. This is one of the reasons I like releasing once a week, because I prefer to have something posting at all times, and if I didn't have time to recover, this wouldn't happen. But this year has been different, and I don't entirely know why. Writing has not come easily for the past four and a half months, and I'm struggling to get anything done. I went through a couple of different phases during this time, and I'm still struggling on the latest one. First, I thought it was because I was trying to write the sequel to "The Navigator". It didn't pan out the way i thought it would, and I didn't like the direction it was heading. I shelved it and decided to come back to it later. I've never been great at writing sequels, so this didn't come as much of a surprise to me, but yet I still tried my next step . . . Which was to attempt to write the sequel to "From The Cup of The Worhtless". Again, it didn't take. I struggled for a few weeks to write that, and it didn't go anywhere, either, even though I had a full outline and everything. So, I eventually shelved it in frustration and looked at my calendar. I still had time to write something before I ran out of chapters in "FTCOTW", so I gritted my teeth and dug deeper. And I went deeper than I should have, probably. I delved into some emotions of mine I haven't tapped into for a long time. I started writing the most emotional piece I've ever written, and it started to have some negative effects on me. My health suffered and so did my mental state, and after I reached a certain point in the story, I also knew I had no idea how it ended because it was spiritually autobiographical. I was forced to shelve that one, not because I couldn't write it, but because I knew I wasn't ready to finish it. Which brings me to my current dilemma, and I only shared all of that information because I'm in desperate need of direction now, and sometimes it helps to know where I came from. I am about a third of the way through a new story, and it was flowing well at first, but then I came up against a wall because I realized something about it. One of my beta readers took a look at the first chapter and made an observation which forced me to look at the story as a whole. I'm not taking this one opinion as a blanket judgment on the story, but when I looked at it afterward, I had to acknowledge something painful about it: the whole story was a giant cliche. It's all been done before. The characters are flat representations of stereotypes I've seen employed time and time again. Although I may not have always succeeded on this (And you're welcome to tell me where I've fallen short. In fact, I welcome that feedback, because that will show me where to improve, and that's some of the best kind of feedback I can receive), I try to avoid cliche in my writing, unless I'm writing a parody or satire. I'm certainly not perfect in this, but I know I've improved at it over the years, and what really bothers me about this current story is that I feel it's a step back. So, here's where you come in. I'm completely lost on where to go from here. I can either: 1) Finish this story anyway, just to have something out there when FTCOTW finishes. or 2) Shelve it and start working on something else. Try to find something that clicks. Find my muse again. I need some thoughts. Some feedback on this. I simply have no idea which way to walk. Please provide your opinion. I'd love to hear from any of you.

Yeah, that line was really important to me, too. Dante became an adult in this chapter when this happened, and I loved seeing that transition, even though it was, for a moment, a breaking of innocence. One of my friends who has read this whole story has asked me time and time again about Dante's sexuality. Dante is his favorite character, and he was disappointed up to this point that Dante showed no indication of swinging both ways. This chapter gave him hope, haha! Is there any better confession? Thank you for the review.

Nicola's reasons for letting go are rooted deeply in his emotions. Dante is the only son of Nicola's brother, whom Nicola was very close to and would have given the world to. As a result, Dante has a special place in Nicola's heart, and he'll often get what he wants, within reason, of course. In many ways, Dante is actually Nicola's favorite, and that means he also knows Dante well. Although this particular request caught him off guard at first, he also knew that Dante was sure he wanted it, and couldn't refuse his beloved nephew. As for what happens with the rest of the crew, who's to say as of now? Maybe Dante will simply become their civilian contact? Thank you for the review.

Sorry to hear about your more bad news. I hope things get better for you. Worry about me, last.

I had a soft spot for Dante the whole story, and didn't entirely know why. When I wrote this chapter, I learned what I'd been building up to the whole time, and it suddenly made sense to me. Dante represented, really, everything I wish I was. I relate more to Nobuyuki, but Dante is the ideal for me. To be able to see past the trappings of the life I grew up with, to be able to put friendship ahead of personal gain without hesitation. (I do most of the time, but not all the time) To choose to follow his dreams rather than live the life others want for him. Although I feel I may have been too explicit and extended the scene between Nobu and Viktor too long, it was fun to write, and Viktor's been thinking about that dragon ever since he first caught a glimpse . . . Thank you for the review!

I look forward to it. From all of you.

Chapter 17 spoilers

I find that as good an answer as any, and I think that's probably what I would have determined as a reader as well. I'm more inclined to think that not drinking would be the better option, and that's what I'd expect Mahui to do. But there is that little sliver of doubt which gnaws at me and tells me the drink is still on the altar, and I could go back and have a little sip... Thank you for the review!

Which option do you feel he took? I think the dilemma is why I needed to write the story the way I did. I'm at a bit of a similar crossroads in my life, and my inner shaman is currently presenting the options to me and asking me to choose. I still don't know which option I'll take, but my doubts are similar. Am I being true to myself if I take the easy way, or am I being unrealistic by taking the hard way when an easy option is before me? Anyway, I appreciate the insightful review. Thank you.

I've since learned that the ambiguity of the ending is why the story didn't win me a place in the next round. I wanted the reader to find the answer themselves, to project themselves onto Mahui. Tlaloc was incredibly fun to write, though. I may have to use him again, sometime. Thank you for the review!

Dante set his lunch down and looked up to see Viktor heading his way, looking over his shoulder as if he were expecting to find someone there, but every time he turned back to the table with disappointment. At least until his eyes fell on Dante and he smiled, walking quickly toward him and setting his own lunch down heavily. He slid into place and opened his mouth to greet Dante but something pulled his attention away and he swiveled around in his seat, searching the crowd behind him. A

The sun made Mahui weak, where it made others strong. Warm rays of light had made his journey an exhausting one, and he found himself stumbling more often than not over the last few days to the jungle village. Citla, Mahui’s guide, glanced at him worriedly the first time he’d lost his balance, her brown eyes sparkling in that accursed sunlight as she helped Mahui to his feet. Now, weeks later, Citla rarely glanced Mahui’s way and no longer helped him to his feet. This always happened after

That fight turned out to be one of my favorite parts to write in the whole story. I do use violence as a tool in my stories, but it rarely comes out as emotionally charged and character driven as this scene felt to me while writing it. Vladimir, who is an exceptionally physical person, could only vent his frustration in that moment through his fists. Viktor, who knows his brother better than anyone, was able to see that Vladimir wasn't completely in the right mind, which is what allowed him to quickly forgive his brother. We'll get to the situation between Mikhail and the boys soon enough, and all questions will be answered, and all theories put to the test. I like how this story ends, and I hope you will, too. There's still much more in store for our boys. Seven more chapters to go, and one of those posts tomorrow. Who would want to be on the wrong end of Masahiro? Thank you for the review!

That fight turned out to be one of my favorite parts to write in the whole story. I do use violence as a tool in my stories, but it rarely comes out as emotionally charged and character driven as this scene felt to me while writing it. Vladimir, who is an exceptionally physical person, could only vent his frustration in that moment through his fists. Viktor, who knows his brother better than anyone, was able to see that Vladimir wasn't completely in the right mind, which is what allowed him to quickly forgive his brother. We'll get to the situation between Mikhail and the boys soon enough, and all questions will be answered, and all theories put to the test. I like how this story ends, and I hope you will, too. There's still much more in store for our boys. Seven more chapters to go, and one of those posts tomorrow. Who would want to be on the wrong end of Masahiro? Thank you for the review!