Cynus

Isn't that the truth... sigh. I don't remember a lot of them, unfortunately, but one year I'd received a bomber jacket for my birthday a couple of weeks before, and I decided to go as a pilot. It was the same night my current best friend and I solidified our friendship, so I remember most things about that night fondly. New Q: What is your favorite yearly tradition?

Yeah, you probably don't want to do that, though. You'd be alienating all these lovely women.

I have an ongoing discussion with an author buddy of mine about the strangest things we've researched for stories. Right now my two favorites of my own are "Russian mafia tattoos" which I searched at work and ended up with a bunch of Russian guys in their underwear... and "Pygmy maturation rate". I'll leave that one to your own imagination. What are some of the strangest things you've researched, either for writing or something else?

I'll respond in depth when I get a chance, but I was definitely not offended. I was only trying to offer up another way of looking at things. There was a time when I did self-identify as a gay man, and even then I would have had a hard time telling you if it was because I was emotionally or physically attracted to guys. I'm just saying that it's a whole package deal, to me, and even the most carefully constructed poll wouldn't give me enough room to write my answer.

I'm afraid of freefall, but not of heights. I could stand at the edge of a cliff all day, or learn to hang glide. The person below me would like to learn how to do parkour.

I prefer when they're not wearing either... Same Q

I can't rightfully say it's either, or perhaps I could say it's both at the same time? I can see it both ways, but I don't think either is quite adequate. I've used both of these thought processes before in order to attempt to diagnose my sexuality, and all it has done in the end is bring me more questions. I define gay as "attracted to a person of the same gender", and the key word in there is 'attraction'. For some people, that attraction is emotional, and for others it's physical, and for some people it is both in equal amounts. But what it comes down to, after everything, is that 'gay' is simply a label, and like all labels, it falls short of being able to cover the entire scope of human experience within it's tiny three letter packaging. Am I gay because I have loved men, both emotionally and physically? You can see it that way, surely. But I've also loved women, and at least one of them I've loved as deeply on both an emotional and physical scale as the man I've love the most in my life. So, does that mean I'm bisexual, or does that mean I'm gay when I'm with a guy, and straight when I'm with a woman? I prefer to think of myself as "me", and to not define myself as a "gay person", a "straight person", a "bisexual person", or anything else. I only use terms such as these when I'm communicating to another person, in order to help them understand me quickly. But I don't believe it can possibly be this simple. Sexuality is both immensely complex in form, and simple to understand (Unless you're some sort of backwater bigot). It is complex because it is a wide spectrum, with many people falling in the middle rather than the extremes. There are so many shifts and turns in human sexuality that we could get lost in it forever if allowed to explore it fully. Do you know that there's massive lists of terms at http://www.asexuality.org/en/ for defining where someone fits on the scale of "non-traditional" human attraction? I swear they add new terms to it every day! That was hyperbole, but it really is amazing how many terms have been defined for differences in human sexuality. And then, human sexuality is also simple, because in its barest form, all it means is that Person A feels this way about Person B, and it is up to them to decide what to do about it. I don't define myself as a gay person, so I can't answer the poll, but I do define myself as being free to love whom I want to love, both physically and emotionally. That's the best i can do. Some links to what I was referring to: http://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/123256-asexuality-sexual-orientation-lexicon-read-me/ http://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/120155-gender-definitions-master-list-draft/ http://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/76092-romantic-and-aromantic-lexicon-and-faq/

Those all seem like good reasons, though if the third were true you'd have an issue if it were one of our lovely female members who posted as the 143rd.

Only the crackling of the last few embers broke the silence of the night. There wasn’t anything moving beyond the flickering flames in his vision, the last remnants of destruction wrought by the Alliance attack on the small fortress that had been erected by a small resistance group only a few months before. They had thought their base would be remote enough to avoid detection, but they had been found, tracked down by the noses of the werewolves who would stop at nothing to tear them apart. T

A winged gargoyle. Same Q I'd like it if I had the power, Valkyrie.

I have a hard time with abuse, normally. It makes me exceptionally angry when I read about it; angry enough that it affects everything I do afterward. Surprisingly, that didn't happen here. Which is good news for Valkyrie as that means I'm going to give Penguin another shot. You definitely presented the introspection of a journal entry very well, and I think you've got a good handle on the personality/issues of an abused individual. Well done. I look forward to seeing Stefan's dad get what's coming to the bastard. Especially if he killed Stefan's mother as i suspect.

Yes, indeed I have. My friends and I made some in High school. It did NOT come out well. The person below me does not drink alcohol.

Actually, thinking of sponsoring a naked bonfire dance for Samhain so... does lack of a costume count as a costume in that case? The person below me loves Autumn the most of all the seasons.

I can generally keep up if I'm singing along, but to sing it off the top of my head? No. The person below me watches a lot of anime.

Melanie Rawn's "Dragon Prince" trilogies. Magic of light and psychic connections with dragons? Yes, please! What mythical beast would you ride into battle?

My apologies, Kitt. I was responding as much to the general attitude toward depression in our society as I was to the individual points raised, and I cannot help but view this topic through the bias of my own personal experience, and my own battles with it. I was not meaning to cause offense, and I apologize if I generated a feeling of aggression. I had not noticed the time stamps, either, and so I apologize for any confusion which arose from that misunderstanding as well. In reference to your specific line of "Now, not a one of us said he should not talk about it", neither did I accuse you of such a thing, though I can certainly see how I could have given that impression. This was where i was addressing the general attitude toward depression in our society, where people (at least where I grew up) always told me to hide my unhappiness, that I should "cheer up because the world isn't so bad" as if tired cliches could somehow solve the problem of depression. I'm somewhat removed from the original emotions which sparked my response to this post yesterday, so I can't say for certain what was said which sparked my rant, but I did not mean to accuse any of you of trying to stop warrior1 from talking. My problem is with society and it's stance on depression, not those here on GA. While I don't disagree that medications can be useful for people with depression, I don't believe they are useful for everyone. Medication was NOT the answer for me, personally. I hated it for the same reason I hate drugs and alcohol. it dulled my senses and made me unable to experience the world as fully as possible, which ended up increasing my depression in the long run. I also do not believe it is always something which can be solved by professionals, either. Yes, I needed one at a point, and he put me on a path. I don't need him anymore, and he thought so too. I keep having downs, sure, but my overall life continues to improve. What more can I ask for? Both professionals and medication are tools, and they work for many in differing amounts. For the most part, neither work for me, though I don't mind seeing a professional every now and then. The secret to beating my depression has always been communication, and so I fight for the ability to talk about it with more passion than I fight for most things. But I do apologize if it came across as a personal attack. I appreciate all the members of this community who have taken the time to support me.

She was watching him from the moment he left through the double doors of the old red brick building that was Hamilton High School. He was beautiful in every way, but nothing captivated her more than his glowing smile as he said goodbye to his friends as they parted ways at the end of the long school day. His smile seemed brighter almost every day. She wished that she could smile like that. The thought jarred her as unpleasant memories came rushing back to her; memories of times that shattere

She watches him every day, living for his smile and wishing she could find the same happiness. He is in love, and wants to tell her the truth. When it's all said and done, the truth is even more powerful than either had expected.

Aww... Thanks, buddy.

Thank you for such a wonderful review! I'm glad you appreciate the flow, and the emotion I put behind it. This story was based off of some of my personal experiences, so I suppose it was easier to get that feeling in this story than in others. Thanks again for reading!

My heart was broken yesterday. Does that sound a tad cliche? Perhaps it is, but not to me, For now my love will never be. But in the silence of the night, I contemplate my common plight, And now, quite plainly, I can see, That in the breaking, I am free.

My heart was broken yesterday. Does that sound a tad cliche? Perhaps it is, but not to me, For now my love will never be. But in the silence of the night, I contemplate my common plight, And now, quite plainly, I can see, That in the breaking, I am free. Yesterday, I learned something about a friend of mine. She is in love with someone; a person whom I do not know, but who has been in her life for some time. There was a time when she could tell me anything, and in fact, would. I was her confidant; her source of wisdom in times of distress. And I loved her. I loved her as deeply as I have ever loved another. I have never found another soul who matched me so perfectly, who played into my weaknesses with her strengths, and who needed my own strengths where she was weak. Even my first love, whom I surely loved as deeply before he passed on from this world, did not match me point for point as well as this woman did. She and I argued, and debated, but it was all in the pursuit of greater understanding and overcoming obstacles together. And then . . . And then, the lying started. We both began to hold back, truth disappeared in the face of some need to protect the other from it. We hid it under everything we could, until there was nothing left between us but shadows and masks. But yet, somehow, I knew behind that mask still waited the woman I'd fallen so deeply and madly in love with. And I held onto that thought in so many ways, I let it consume me, and my every action and thought was tempered somehow by how it would affect my being with her. It wasn't always conscious, but I realize now, looking back, that it was always there. I wanted to be with her, and so it kept me from other relationships, other pursuits, because they would have taken me away from the ghost of the good thing we'd had. I felt a panic unlike anything I'd ever felt before when I found out she was in love with another. I went from anger, to fear, to jealousy, to depression, to anxiety, to numbness . . . I stopped at numbness when it became apathy. I'd just passed through a torrent of emotion and then suddenly, I was left with this dark sea of nothingness. And I waited for something to happen. For a time, nothing did. And then, slowly at first, it began to brighten. There was movement in the nothingness, and I was swept up into an emotional state which I've not felt in a long time. I felt as if an anchor had been withdrawn, and for a moment I was able to move freely. The obsession I'd built up quietly within my soul had shattered. I knew that she was gone, that there'd never truly been hope of reconciliation, but yet I'd held onto the thought anyway. But suddenly my obsession had no ground on which to stand, and it crumbled to dust. I don't know what this new found freedom might become. I don't know where I'm headed. What I do know is that she no longer holds power over me, and for the first time in years, I don't feel weighed down by the thought of my captor, who has held my heart hostage with her intoxicating soul. My heart is broken, and I am free. And that is perhaps the best feeling I've felt in a long while.

What the 1190 F?

I think the last one is definitely my favorite, and the one I wish I'd been taught with.

I didn't plan it that way, it just conveniently happened. I was fairly pleased when it did, however. The next chapter is very important and... well, it's going to upset some people, to put it frankly. I wish I had twelve hours a day to write as well. That's the goal. I'll make it some day. Thank you so much for your support. I do go back to see if I've missed any reviews from time to time. I did that last week, actually. But there is a notification system to tell me when new reviews are added. Sometimes, however, I get a notification at an inopportune time and don't get around to replying to the review until much later because I forget about it. I'm sorry if I've ever done that to one of yours! Thank you for the review.