Hunter Thomson

As you said, the campus absolutely has to react because it happened on campus, and to one of their students. What that reaction will look like is anyone's guess though, and of course Devin isn't privy to the kinds of discussions and behind the scenes action that occurs from such issues. Besides... he only just got home! Once he wakes up, I'm sure there'll be plenty of interested parties that need to find him and get him taken care of. Not the least of which will be his frat, his team and campus security. Devin and Bryce have a LOT of talking to do. Something has to change, and both are going to be feeling a lot of different things in light of this attack. I don't think Devin's nature would have him blame Bryce for the attack, as in Bryce setting it up, but I do think that the events speak for themselves and Devin is the kind of person to point out when he's right in an argument. This was not how Devin wanted to start the new calendar year. It'll be interesting to see what happens with his school and his baseball, considering he needs his arm to play. Glad you're still sticking with it Skinny

Hello Luxy, thanks for checking in. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter Bryce knows his own experience, coming from an urban centre and also from a hotbed of progressive, liberal politics. It's no surprise that as a Seattle native, he hasn't seen the worst of homophobia that can exist outside some of the major urban centres. Like many youth, he feels that his experiences are universal and imposes them onto Devin, thinking that perhaps Sean was a freak accident of some kind and not truly indicative of how things actually are. Devin's situation is a bit harder. He needs something where he's unambiguously in charge of what happens, and the confidence that comes from both that measure of control and some kind of success within that field. Right now his confidence is shot because of what's happened to him. He's a victim right now, but he doesn't have to be. He needs the tools to get over what's happened to him, but that's not going to happen if he's still feeling like he's unsafe. Vincente's arc is very similar to the arc (I hope) history is taking. What started with ignorance and shock has progressed towards a growing tolerance, and now the simple understanding that we are all people, and we each deserve to be protected and held safe. Where this arc continues, I'm not sure, but I think it's a sweet, tender thing that I can write his character and see our world captured in that relationship.

Classes started right after Martin Luther King Day, and the instructors wasted no time in putting us to work. Most of the instructors made it clear that because we only had fifteen weeks in the Spring semester, we needed to get started right away. My creative non-fiction course assigned two chapters of reading to be done by the end of the week, and the textbook was hundreds of pages long. This wasn’t going to be quite as easy as the other classes I took last semester. Even my two sports related

Some things are absolutely universal truths. One of those truths being that high school is some kind of unadulterated hellscape in which children teach each other the most effective means of ruining each others' lives. Thorn, you've done a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of what it is to be a teenager in public school again. Daniel is instantly believable as a character, and almost anyone should be able to recognize someone who fits Daniel's archetype in their own lives. Very interested to see where you take this, especially the currently one-sided romance between Daniel and Michael.

Wonderful choices, though I think Fix You is more a story of lost love, isn't it? Most of mine are already on the list in various places, so I'll add one I haven't seen. A Thousand Miles - Vanessa Carlton

Wow Dayne. What an epic conclusion to the first part of your series. I know you have an epilogue left, but this was masterfully written. The characters you've created shine. The distinctions between each character are so flawless that it's always easy to see whose perspective the story is being shown from. The different quirks each character have taken on really highlight how much you thought about their traits, and how best to highlight them. What did surprise me was what you did with Efrain at the end of the chapter. That level of introspection was new for him, and it was fascinating to see the kind of plans he had for himself, and how much he had changed because of Cory. When I think of their relationship, I see how much Cory has changed because you make it explicit that he was a closeted bi boy coming to VA-Tech to indulge in his sexuality. He changes, he grows more confident and more obviously queer because of his relationship, but Efrain doesn't seem to outwardly change who he is. Even after coming out to his family, he's still essentially unchanged, so it was nice to read that things had changed for him, and hopefully you'll be exploring that in Wild Card. Always happy you chose to start writing.

Thank you Skinny! I'm glad my life amused you Seriously though, this was a nice break from TLO and Extra Innings. It was fun to look back on my sports days and realize that even a decade ago, there were good people in sports who defied the norms of heterosexism and homophobia.

Practice could bite me, some days. Today was one of those days. We were at Central park, in this pathetic excuse for a baseball diamond, next to a few other poor excuses for baseball diamonds. My one consolation about today's practice? It wasn't snowing today, like the last time we had to use this travesty of a park last year. Practice was going well. Well enough for me anyways. I hated the whole concept of our practices and how they didn't do a damn thing to make us ready for the games we kept

I appreciated this story for the rich detail that was put into each of the minor scenes. Each scene on its own was a vignette, but they blended together and were immaculately detailed, leading to a well written story. Thank you Dyno.

I have some problems with Dr. Keating right now as well. There's obviously something he feels is needed to fully help David, but this two week delay makes no sense from a standard of care perspective. While I appreciate that getting into facilities like this can be incredibly difficult, particularly with a short lead time, there isn't very much being done to prepare David for the transition. It may be exactly as Dr. Keating has said, and it's a short excursion to the facility for a few days to undergo intensive therapy, but that should be fully explained to the patient. Informed consent is required for treatment, as I recall, so hopefully David's father has more to explain about the situation over the weekend. Erik remains a concern, as he's becoming increasingly less subtle about the ways he controls Twoey. Ginny must have noticed the way her son was pushed, and of course she's already noticed the isolating aspects of their relationship. The breaking point there seems to be coming soon, and it too will be problematic for all involved. One side-effect of this whole ordeal is that David has become much more introspective (big plus for me!) and analyzes himself with much more fervor than he did before. He's learning things about himself that have shocked him to his core and completely upset the self-image he has for himself. This in itself would normally be enough to require adult support, but the things he's learned include being serially abused. Considering that, his mental state appears to be surprisingly robust. I do not know I could remain as sane as David in his place. His concerns about being placed in an asylum speak to fears of being abandoned, which also makes sense considering how many times he's been abandoned. What David needs is his friends to rally around him and show him he's still the same person they thought he was and liked having around. Sam will be good for that, and I'm sorry to see that you threw in a potential scene for them, and didn't end up having it. I think that loss of insight would have been useful for readers.

I am so very late to the party, but I wanted to add my own commentary to the discussion of your story. I love how well-crafted your characters are and how much you developed Kayden as a character. I knew that he had to become something more than the scared little child you introduced in chapter one of Tears, but the way you've allowed the reader to be there to witness the entirety of Kayden's development has been masterfully done, and it really shows how strong your writing is. I know last year you had been pondering about writing another book within this world and with these characters. I hope that you do so.

“Why do I even bother?” The words were said aloud by Miss Kendall Morgan, knowing full well there was no one in the base to hear them. Kendall Morgan spent most of her days in the Amber Beach museum, either in her real job as the museum director, or else after hours in the Dino Charge Rangers base, working on different chargers they could use in their upcoming battles against Sledge and his army of henchmen. She had to take care of them, they were her team now. She and Keeper had been working

Hello Skinny, thanks for the review as usual. Devin explained it, and of course it's important for them to have had that conversation... but it remains to be seen if Bryce really understands it. Does anyone really get it when they learn someone else has been assaulted and it's still a raw memory? Hopefully it will bring them together, but it could also be something that becomes a sticking point. It definitely shows Devin that it's something he has to take more seriously and deal with. I'm glad you liked the chapter. I wasn't sure what would come of it, as this wasn't the original direction I wanted to take it.

The boys were discussing Devin's past, of which the readers are mostly already aware. It didn't make sense for me to rehash the events of The Last Out in a chapter, when people should already have a passing awareness of it. The fraternity stuff I didn't mention because I never went through the fraternity process. Well, not far enough to learn any of the secrets of the fraternity, which I'd be honour-bound not to reveal anyways.

The last few days of being at home were nice. Dad was able to get some time off for Christmas, so we were able to spend a lot of time together, and it was nice to catch up with him to see how he was doing. Without me around, Dad was feeling a little lonely, which was only natural, but not having me in the house also meant that he was able to save up a bit more and not have to stress out so much about the bills. Apparently my eating habits alone were costing a lot more than he thought they were,

Eighteen days remain. David is finally starting to know himself, but that Deadline gets closer and closer. He's also complicating things for himself and making it that much harder to ensure he's able to find the solutions he needs. David and Donny together is going to lead to someone being heartbroken, and I suspect it is going to be Donny. David is still way too wrapped up in Twoey, and I think Dr. Keating had the right answer when he said that David has to figure out his feelings there before he goes after any other boy. The meeting with Deena is going to be very interesting. She's obviously cut from the same cloth as Sam, but she doesn't know David as well and won't know which buttons are safe to push and which places she should ease away from. That could lead to something explosive happening, but also might force a breakthrough that's desperately needed at this point. I wonder about that deadline of the end of the year... I'm beginning to think it means something different than what most of us have concluded, but I'll keep my thoughts to myself and hope to see more. But I'm starting to think that perhaps the deadline doesn't specifically refer to David.

An interesting start from the two of you. I don't know anything about shifter fiction, so this will be an interesting ride for me, but so far I'm intrigued by what you've written so far. I appreciate that you got right into the action with your first scene, there wasn't the usual "let's describe the main character in insane detail" paragraphs that are so very common in literature. Those details about the appearance of the characters will come as the story progresses and as they're needed, which is nice to see. Good work boys, appreciate the offering.

A wonderful sentiment to express everything that's happened in the past year. I'm glad that you wrote it, even though it's painful to see some of the setbacks we must continually face as a community. Very eloquent.

OH, shoot! The last few words of the chapter got sliced off! The last sentence should read "I went to bed right away that night, not having any idea what tomorrow would bring." Good catch, thank you for pointing this out TLM. Otherwise the chapter is complete, there isn't anything else missing.

We've said before that it seems to be over, but something keeps drawing them back together. Except probably not this time. It's difficult to be more thorough in your lack of interest in someone than to punch them in the face and then run away. It was definitely something that was going to be very cathartic for both of Alex, but it probably did more good than harm for Devin too. Now there was a complete and total breaking apart from everything, so Devin doesn't have to feel like he's tied down to Colfax in any way or form now. You're right that Alex and Devin didn't really do the whole "what are we, and what does that mean for when you go to college" conversation. Doing so might have made things a lot easier right now, but then they would have been acting more mature than they both are in order to do that. Now they move on. To wherever 'on' happens to be.

Happy birthday, Stellar!

Alex has a blind spot. He's amazing at helping other people with their problems, but he can't separate from himself enough to realize what his own issues might be. You're right. I think in a fundamental way Alex doesn't really understand Devin. Part of that is because they do come from different worlds. Devin's an athlete, Alex is a bookish type. Devin comes from the poor side of things, Alex wants for nothing. They don't understand each other on a basic, cultural level. Part of that is also that Devin doesn't explain it. He doesn't share who he is with people. When did he share any of the deeper things that make up a person with Alex, or with Bryce or Vincente or even his father? He hasn't shared what really makes him unique and tick as a person with the reader, that's for sure, and that makes it hard to really get him. Devin and his father do have a relationship with each other. It's not... it's not demonstrative, but looking back there's always been the support there. Part of it is growing up, as well. Learning how to be an adult sometimes means parents learn to give up more responsibility to their children.

The part about this chapter that I enjoy most is that the two characters are clearly still just kids. They may be older, and Devin may even be in college, but they still have the reactions of kids. Devin's not the best at figuring out his own emotional issues, and Alex is still a kid. They both are growing up, and I like that I get to help nudge them along the way, here and there.

I wasn’t sleeping well lately. Even Mother had noticed, which was a rare thing for her to notice a problem with me before I noticed it myself. Mornings and evenings leading up to the Christmas break were spent dodging questions, not a fun thing to do when your Mother is as skilled at digging information out of people as she is. I couldn’t stop thinking about Devin. Every time I thought I was getting past the anger and starting to figure out how to move past what he did and move on with my life,

I wish I could say I remembered how my exams were, but between the periodic headaches from falling and absolutely panicking about the exams and then trying to pack for the Winter vacation, I couldn’t tell you how I did. I didn’t see much of anyone except Vincente or Bryce, as I eventually moved back to the room so that Bryce could have his space and a bed again, and I didn’t seem like I needed anything to get better. Dad picked me up from the residence right at noon, and I couldn’t begin to thi