Krista

Well, aren't we all glad that Cindy 'didn't' think of that scenario going forward, Lol. Although, it would have been rather eye-opening for her to know where Luke spent a lot of his time. If this were told in Luke's POV, I may have went there, but I honestly didn't give that much thought. I wanted her to be of the mind that, she is seeing children progressing into adulthood way too fast... and that phones and such just allowed them the space and tools to do so. That was always my reasoning for her, a bit old-school thinking for her with such things especially coming from a more present day school teacher. I also think the time span at which these chapters are written are more --- aged. I also would be very interested in what Luke would have chosen to do for his extracurriculars. Developing him more in that way would have been nice for me to do. I will tell you now though, I would have written Cindy in a lot more motherly and healthy way, because I don't and never really did want to depict her as a stereotypical small-town, backwards thinking "Christian.." woman. We're only seeing her through Jackson's eyes, more or less. I wanted her anger and protectiveness to stem more from... just protecting him from Jackson, due to having a biased opinion of him and his nature, and by extension his friends, and environment that he creates around him. At the beginning of the story, I feel she was very much justified as well, as he was more than just a brat that hated discipline. So, yeah Cindy at home would be different than the Cindy we know in this story.

I picture Jackson clinging on with all he's got, whilst Luke is comfortable. I'm basing this on my first riding experience. It is the horse that makes the difference, if the horse is calm and after you get used to the foreign feeling of having something moving underneath you, it gets easier. I got up to a full gallop my first time out, but I had a professional show horse rider boyfriend. He got me over the fear and how to sit comfortable on the saddle. I used to ride a lot, but I've not done it in years. I would most definitely not be as comfortable now, I doubt it is like riding a bicycle. lol

Thank you for leaving a comment! I've never been a fan of forcing someone who doesn't want to be out, to come out. I feel it causes a lot of undue stress and anxiety, so that's unfortunate the person couldn't appreciate you, for you. i am glad you're liking the story so far.

There's a face in that tree... a bit off-putting, but otherwise gorgeous.

Aww thank you. I'm glad you called them slobs, because one of the comments @wildone made was that none of the guys ate any of the salad. They all essentially drank alcohol and ate steak, and some of the left over chicken. And, I wanted them to be messy in that way, being out and fending for themselves. I almost had them do worse than that.. and just eat microwave stuff or what they could get delivered... they at least cooked. Thank you for reading and leaving a comment. Thank you! I'm glad you're liking the story. Aww, thank you. These planned epilog parts have been a bit fun, but a little stressful to write. But, I am happy. Over 400k in words... is a long story to write. Longer since it took me sooo much time to actually write it.

Waking up to a door closing, I jolted awake and looked around. Seeing movement outside of the blinds as the sunlight hit me through the blinds, I groaned and kicked the covers off me. Not seeing Luke, I stretched, reaching down, readjusting myself as I headed towards the door. Peeking through the blinds, I saw everyone gathering around the picnic table. The less intense sunlight already told me it was later in the day. Derek had the grill smoking, and it looked like Toby was helping him fight ba

Thank you for sticking with me for so long... I'll never be able to put to words just how thankful I am to y'all through this. We still have two more parts to get through, I hope nothing in the writing derails everything. lol.. 😮

It has been a bit since I checked in on this story. I want to know, since I just finished "The Best Year," the last two parts just need to be worked on/edited then posted. Are there still people out here wanting more parts to this story? If not, I will make the attempt to move on to something else or retire. If there is interest, I do have part 2 and 3 written, but I also won't be posting them until I am positive that the story will be completely written before I start posting anything new for it. This is your moment to speak up though. I am liking the direction of the story, I don't think it is going to be that large of a project. Maybe 5 - 10 parts depending on a decision I want to make or not make involving the plot.

I 'have' to write my poetry on the fly... in one sitting. Otherwise I overthink it, I cringe at it. I am not a poetry sort at all. With that said, I did write one for this Anthology. Who knows if I will be brave enough to commit it to being posted for you people to see.

I refuse to vote. My track record for never making the deadline speaks for itself. I did take a look at the list, top notch list... have fun voting for them.

Thank you for leaving a comment. I thought they needed a simple night. Thank you! I had something profound to say about baby steps, in how that life is better off moving in baby steps instead of rushing head-long into it... but then it left me, and was probably silly to begin with. lol. Thank you for reading and leaving a comment. Aww, thank you. ---------- I do have the final two parts written. The story is over for me, it was a bigger project than I ever thought it would be... and it took way too long to write. Overall I am happy and a little bit scared. Either way, I want to thank everyone who has stuck around with me. I will try to edit and get the next two parts out in a timely manner. Seeing this story moved to "Completed" will be a very nice day for me. I will miss Jackson, Luke, and the rest of them they were fun. I don't know what I will move along to... I do have Learned to Lie up to three parts, but I may just retire where I am at instead, I have been doing this writing for fun thing since 2003.

I felt Luke get out of the bed not too long after everything got quiet in the house. I heard him shuffling his feet across the hardwood floor. Opening my eyes, trying not to shift in the bed, I looked over at his dark figure bent over, looking for his flip flops. Not seeming to find them, I watched him reach for the lock. When it clicked, I noticed him jump and look behind him. It was just dark enough in the room that I didn’t think he could see that I was still awake. I had almost fallen asleep

To be honest, I don't know why they would need one? I'm not remembering anything that would have required it. Usually that situation only becomes an issue when the actors are involved in filming scenes that requires full nudity that cannot be hidden or edited heavily. Especially if they're in a position where the parts would touch in a simulated way, example: naked skin to skin grinding. --- On another note - I have recently fallen into the mood where I just want to watch films with a homosexual theme. I've watched five recently, only two of which I actually liked. Hidden Away and the second being, Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the Universe. Both depict younger characters than what I would usually watch, but they came to me recommended via Prime's algorithm so I was like.. fine. So, it surprised me that those two are the films that I liked. A+D Discover --- is based on books, now that I've watched the film I will have to read them, I guess. The other three, two I was on the fence about: Lonesome - which I thought didn't have any real direction to it. The main character carried the film, but I for the life of me can't understand the motivations he had at the end. I don't think the guy he ended up with was worth chasing to be honest. Anyway, it just seemed like two... messed up people found one another and were okay that they are both messed up. Where there should have been growth, there was very little. Floating Skyscrapers - Fell into the most used gay film trope of all time, one that I am completely exhausted with. I won't say it now, but I'll give anyone three guesses. I bet you'll only need the one. And lastly, the worst film I think I've seen in a really, really long time. I wasted time and money renting the damn thing. 'Something like Summer,' terrible. It should be free it is just so bad. Actually, one should be paid to get through it, I would rather clean toilets.

One of the things both of my gay friends have said, they never really felt the pressure from Religious people. They were never all that religious to begin with and belonged to families that at most.. did Easter and Christmas. What they told me was, they put so much pressure on themselves, and most of the fear came from failing the expectations that were placed on them. They are both male, they were more scared of not hitting milestones, marriage to a woman, having kids, being in a stable home that they own, etc. Saying that... those expectations, especially from family is what scared them more than the blatant homophobia. To them that was all secondary, still a cause of fear and stress, but the different expectations for their lives dominated their minds more. They both had terrible coming out stories though. They were right to be afraid, as it turned out. That is mostly why I'm here. Thank you for sharing bits of yourself here though. We all hope for the days where there isn't fear of that nature.

You also have to consider that GA has gone through cycles of transitions, so those numbers aren't the exact number, unless they came after the last transition that didn't carry over the raw data. I can't remember when that exactly was, possibly with the transition to Stories? Having had this system for a bit, I am not remembering how they were calculated in the past. Could "Hosted/Signature, Promising," and the like even see their reader count? There was a time where we sent our chapters to be added to our Hosted Sites, and I can't for the life of me remember if they had a view counter back then. I do remember I demanded a lot of pink... and for those of you that had to experience that level of pink, I apologize for that.

I honestly would love to sit down and read this story for fun someday, all the way through... after I've not been looking at it through the years it has taken me to write it. When I see new readers working their way through it, I don't know how to respond to comments to be honest. I want you to organically read it, I don't want to respond with something that may distract you or detract from that in any way. So I will leave this here knowing that I am reading comments. Not just your comments, but everyone who leaves them. I hope you can stay with the story.

Oh.. hi! lol I wonder how far he will push you? I am finishing up the story's second to last part right now. Been a bit of a long write for me, hope you enjoy yourself.

That's the Dance/Basketball Drama/Mystery, right? It is on Prime at the moment. I watched it when it first aired on VH1, I got 1 and 1/2 seasons into it before I had enough. The writing is awful. Most of the characters are unlikable people, and the ones that are likable end up being not who they claim to be, which ends in a swift heel turn. Or they are so overlooked by all the stupid chaos that you forget them entirely. There is a bisexual professional athlete character, and a gay sports agent, and for the most part, from the parts I've watched, those two characters become the least blameless? But, like I said... most of the characters are flawed to the point where you want most of them not to succeed. You can also literally skip entire episodes and fall back into the plot easily, because it is just that predictable. I am rather picky though, you may enjoy it. The bodies on display are attractive though, I will give it that.

Same.. and I forget my resolutions until I break them... get pissed, and it was all for not. If I was really worried about it, then I would do it regardless. --- I would also have to admit that I'm not perfection, which just upsets my tummy.

You might get the correct appendages everywhere then.

*fingers crossed* Hmm, there seems to be some questions about Luke's commitment. 😮 And yes, they do have a week, maybe Luke will be able to relax. He did leave a bit of an explosion before he left though. There are no invisible fence or wall where that goes away, unfortunately. lol. I always feel better about mini-vacations and such the day after the first day myself. And I disagree, I love ketchup. Although, a lot of it is the too sweet stuff, so I tend to use organic ketchup with lower sugar levels and no corn syrup. A Mother's disappointment is the worst... even if it is coming from Cindy, Luke is definitely feeling it, but compounded with how he left things with her. That is not easily forgotten. I think he's committed to Jackson, he just has to come to terms with what all that means with the rest of his life. But he definitely wants Jackson, you'd have to.. to put up with him, I think. Lol. ---- Sorry for the delays, Holidays isn't my only excuse. Although, I'm sure y'all are tired of those by now. So I will just apologize for the delay again. I have most of Part 3 written. I'm having health setbacks that has slowed me down a bit lately as well. Hopefully I will get answers and that can resolve so I can refocus on these things again. Thank you for hanging in there with me as I continue with this writing thing a little longer.

Same, I caught covid during our Christmas celebrations. I was sick all the way through New Years and my Birthday, so I didn't get to celebrate either. Not bummed about missing my Birthday, but not getting snockered.. or at least buzzed during New Years was a rough one.

His own damn fault for living in Canada. *whistles* Our Christmas isn't looking white either. I want a nice soft powdery snow, the last few winters our snow as come along with wind gusts above 30mph, negative temperature windchills and absolute hell to be outside in. All his fault as well, blowing that junk down here, the windbag.

Mainstream filmmakers and showrunners will always attempt to have a platform with their art, that has been going on for generations in film. They 'want' people to be more hyperaware of social injustices and issues. One can argue there has been a bit of a hijacking of media to the point where the impact is lost and all that. Not the place for it though, really, so I won't get too deep into that. I do not think Comedy and Horror has been good genres for Gay centered story telling, shows, etc. Bros being the primary and most glaring example of Comedy, as it was marketed as a Romantic comedy. It failed... and it mostly failed with its own target audiences. I read articles where the LGBT+ community had more problems with the film than heterosexuals who saw it. And most Gay-centered Horrors are just low-budget gorefests... because the low-budget gorefests it is mirroring are also awful... in a, 'I just can't look away...' way. I can't stand stuff like that. I have said this before, and will continue to say it: Smaller productions, independently funded, and/or foreign markets are the places to go for quality gay films/shows. The nice middle ground between big budget films, and art school student projects films. American mainstream will never hold my attention. I've liked some of them as one-off viewings, like Brokeback Mountain, and Call me by... whatever the rest of that is, Milk, Moonlight, etc but I've never went back to them. Shelter, Latter Days, The Way He Looks, Gods Own Country, Boys, Angels of Sex, Free Fall, the list is endless I can name hundreds and none of them will be backed by Hollywood.

Omg... a challenge for me to write about Joey (expletive) (expletive) (expletive) Votto?!!?! Sign me up. I can write about that smirk and contoured jawline for days.