Krista

Ah, Prompt 49 inspired me, and I wrote a short story for it. I wanted to step out of my usual romance genres, and this gave me the excuse to do it.

“Can you believe it?” Livia asked as we drove down the winding road just at full dark. The moon was rising, but not yet over the tree line, full and chilling. Not because it was winter, but because we both knew it gave our enemies power. These nights the alliance between protectors and predators were always strained. Still, on this night, the chill of the moon didn’t touch me. We were about to celebrate our graduation from the Academy. “We’re finally done.” “Yeah,” I said as I focused on th

Jack is better behaved than Jack. Yes, Henry needs protected at all costs, I think. This story is really about Connor and Henry, let's be honest here. There is evidence to this throughout the entire story. Also, I wanted the guys to have a nice Cindy free day, they deserved one, they may not have very many of them in the coming chapters. The Christmas out in the snowy field during a full moon, is one of my top 10 favorite scenes I've ever written across all of my stories. At least I had fun writing it, I don't know how y'all feel about it, I'd have to go back and reread that chapter. It was a ways back there, so bringing it up was more of a treat for me than for y'all. Unless you remember it and feel the same way I did about the entire thing. lol Henry is the best of the best, we should all try to be like Henry - aside from marrying a Cindy of course, but nobody is perfect. The volcanic explosion probably happened after Luke left to be honest. lol, I do wonder how many defeats she'll take before she changes her strategy again though. Hmm. Thank you for enjoying this chapter and sticking with the story. Also, thank you for leaving a comment. Thank you for enjoying the chapter, leaving a comment, and sticking with this story! Sorry poor Cindy is always in the periphery, she needs to be there, if not the story doesn't really work. I hope I haven't overdone her though, I do fear that I may have. I almost had them be interrupted, but it wasn't Cindy, but decided nah, the boys needed two or so chapters of complete stress free loving. lol And yeah, there is no doubt in my mind that if Cindy thought something was going on next door, like a wild party... and Luke was somehow involved she would totally interrupt. In her mind, she isn't being cruel. She sees Jackson for who she thinks he is, a bad influence that is living a... I don't want to say sinful life? Unhealthy one, that will lead to his downfall. She has no respect for him. So her not wanting Luke around that, isn't cruelty - to her, it is protectiveness. We see it differently, because we see Jackson better, but she doesn't. I guess you can say she has a blindspot, but she is also very out of touch with teenagers and you really can't be if you're raising one. lol And yes, she wants a Luke that will listen to her, too, because she feels that she is right about things. It does make her all the more fun to write, I just hope I strike a decent balance with her, so that she doesn't overwhelm the story.

Hi hi! Sorry I never got to these comments, I did read them when they were first made. I promise I do live a little for each and every comment I do receive and am very appreciative of them. It is my busy schedule and my forgetfulness, I actually realized that I hadn't responded to these the other day, after I posted a new chapter. Lol... woops. Since these comments are a full chapter older, I'll just leave it at that. I hope you all are still enjoying the story as I slowly write it. I haven't started on chapter 45 yet, since it came out of nowhere after I ended chapter 44 (this is probably better discussed there). -- So thank you, for your continued support and comments, the discussions and the humor in them always put a smile on my face and keep me thinking on my toes.

Aww, this made me almost cry. I am so glad you read and enjoyed this story. It made me cry writing it, multiple times.

Nice to know I didn't break anything this go. The last time the archives updated, I wrecked it.

Good thing I live in the middle of nowhere, there's always parking. I honestly don't think I've had to parallel park since my driving exam when I was 16 years old. Lol. Even then I hit the cone and nearly hit the police car I was parking beside. Still passed.

The only thing you need to fear, @wildone is when you get cheeky and press your luck with me. I also didn't even realize it was Friday the 13th. Not having to work Fridays, I just sort of morning like usual, say bye to the brats and start my Friday routine of cleaning, napping, and pretending to do work whenever the husband has a view of me. So you know, don't really keep up with the date on that day. I wasn't superstitious playing sports either, mostly because I heard that some people don't wash their socks or they wear the same underwear if they have a good game or are on a streak of good games... and there I was half gagging at the thought of people doing that. So no... not for me. Aaron is a bit superstitious, but not about sports. During hunting seasons he gets bent all out of shape. He doesn't shave, that's bad luck. He doesn't wear the same outfit (he wrinkles his nose when I call his camo an outfit btw), and he uses different scent repellants, because apparently it is bad luck to use the same one. From a writing interest, it would be a bit funny to write a character with those quirks. It has probably been done here, but I've not read a story with a sports central theme that has a superstitious character. Generally, there are just some things a lot of people don't do... Walk under ladders, break mirrors, step on cracks in the sidewalk (unless you have a vendetta against your mother). A bird that flies into an open window is a bad omen, if you kill a spider it will rain, etc. I think I remember being told that one of my grandfathers wouldn't parallel park in the spot closest to a Stop sign, because he thought it was bad luck, I hadn't heard it since. That was back before the town he grew up in got stop lights though, so you know, quite a ways back there.

After we got back to the house, I barely had the door closed before Luke pushed me against the back of the couch. I was trying to toe out of my muddy shoes and he was pulling my shirt up over my head. With an agitated hiss I finally raised my arms and he pulled it up over my head. Watching him he smirked before he leaned forward and found my neck. I was struggling to keep up with him. When I finally had my sneakers off I grabbed the back of his head and pulled his attention away from kissing dow

Boybands did Bass (Lance was the Bass within that group, I think) singers something awful. They never got the spotlight except for the general one-liner. Bass singers today are rather celebrated, but the era of boybands waned decades ago. As far as being the only out gay former boybander, wasn't there one from a different band, outed a few years ago? I can't recall which one, it was an older band before my tastes changed to include Pop music. My mind keeps going to, The Beach Boys, but I'm not sure that's the correct group.

Good. Can't have all of you looking like over achievers, especially our Steven.

Me!? I was never a groupie, I heard about your younger days back well before Bill Gates got rich. If either of us were groupies, it would be you.

The band's name is N*sync you boomer.

I am aware of more homophobia and racism where I live. Being a heterosexual married woman, I don't get a whole lot of grief from anyone. The entire reason I am here, as in this forum, was partly because I have two friends that experienced severe homophobia in their lives. They were outed by, well not being computer savvy and hiding their searches. That was back in the mid-90s though and to be honest, I never heard the term Queer or the F-word until I was 14, it just wasn't discussed negatively or positively in my very tiny bubble. Fast forward to the present, I feel my area of the state (Kentucky), still experiences a ton of growing pains with regards to the community acceptance of LGBTQ. There is a growing presence here statewide as a whole I feel. Directly concerning my area though, there is absolutely nothing here and if you don't have Netflix or some other form of social/entertainment media, there isn't anything of inclusion to note. I lived in Lexington and that city has gotten better on that front, but way worse in a lot of others. I personally wouldn't recommend living there gay, straight, or otherwise. The other city I live near, is far more peaceful by comparison, but the community isn't as strong, but I feel it will grow with the city itself. Around me, we're a more live and let live, be neighborly sort of tiny community, but like I said, my ears hear things I'd rather not hear.

We've both been busy. This chapter was written like two-ish weeks ago and I've only done two pages of work on TBY since. It was actually meant to be a larger chapter, but decided to cut it off into a shorter one. The next one is a continuance of sorts, but I feel that the chapter after will be Districts and that will take me a lot of concentration, I've not done a swim meet for a bit. So yay for me, I guess. Oh.. and if the mood hits and you want to throw a tomato at Wildone, do so.

It was late when we got back, so late that Luke didn’t get to shut the engine off and stay with me for a little longer. We both also knew he had an argument waiting for him back home. It was pretty obvious that Cindy knew that Luke was with me, but I hoped she also thought there was more than just me. The bowling lie Mom told still felt like a stupid one from the start of the night and now that we were back home, I wanted it to be enough. Every light in the house was off aside from the porc

All I got from your post is that you have a cousin that looks like Cullen? You say? Lol. Dragon Age 2 was a big letdown for me. It sucks because I really liked Fenris and some of the characters and their stories. I didn't like how they didn't restrict romance options as well. The main plot was awful, it should have been a series of DLCs, that's what the entire game felt like. It did introduce Varric and Cassandra though, so at least something good came from it. I'm probably also one of the rare people that didn't like that we had pre-made Hawkes as well. I was more forgiving with Mass Effect, mostly because their character creation tools were so touchy and it took me ages. I use a blog to find attractive original Shepards now. None of the games are as bad as Andromeda though, where I happily took the premade characters. Ashley was meant to be xenophobic, but I agree it felt too dated for something that was so into the future. If they were going to do it, it should have been done with a more modern take on racism and xenophobia. A bit difficult to do, but they just made her so stereotypical and loud. It would have been better if the writing was more subtle, so that it is there, but not in your face. It would have layered her better, for better or for worst. I would still not be able to like her, but in all honesty, the whole basis of a lot of trouble within the Mass Effect universe was based on that dynamic. It just felt different coming from a human, I guess. Mass Effect 3 for the M/M romance is the reason I like the game best out of the three. It brought more story out of Kaiden and it did feel like there was a history and a connection between them, if it came completely out of nowhere, I wouldn't have liked it. The Mod probably added to that and enhanced the other games, which leaves me feeling a little left out. Consoles... They butchered Alistair in Dragon Age: Inquisition and I am still pissed about that. lol His character looked awful. Zeveran being the only M/M option in Origins was a bit of a letdown as well. I was very slow to warm to him and he was so easy to get romantic with, but not loyalty out of, story-wise. It made the romance end up feeling more physical and casual than actually romantic. It has been a very long time since I played Origins though, so I may be misremembering.

Welcome to GA, you will find your way soon enough.

Yeah, mods are good for PC gaming, not so much console. I don't play enough to really warrant a PC gaming set-up, I don't think. Also, if I did break down and buy it, I doubt the brats and the husband would let me on it anyway. You can M/M Romance Alistaire with Mods for Dragon Age: Origins too. As well as Cullen in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Mods are really nice for a lot of games of that nature, especially older when creators and studios were a bit hesitant to include the options. Kaiden as a Romance option later games doesn't really do it for me as far as M/M, if I play a male character in Mass Effect, I always gravitate towards Tali. You spend the majority of the game after ME:1 at odds with Kaiden as well.

I know what yours was, @wildone... it was written on the bathroom walls. --- To answer the question, I don't recall any nicknames, Krista isn't my first name so I guess that counts. I was the type of person that corrected people that attempted to call me by something that I didn't like. So that ended the Krissy, Kris, Tina, attempts rather quickly. A group of guys liked to call me Legs. And I still don't like pet names like Babe, Baby. I live in the small town south, we don't get very original when it comes to nicknames for girls. Guys on the other hand, there were plenty. Bub, Spanky, Ace... there was one guy in my high school that came to be known as Sure Shot... and not because he was good with a gun... or basketball. I think I used it in a story once, I can't remember.

Thank you for surprising me with a feature in the CSR Discussion blog. It was fun answering the questions asked of me and thinking back on some of the processes. Ridley isn't and old story, so I could still answer them with confidence and pluck things from memory better. If there's anything else anyone wishes to ask, I don't mind answering.

Aww, thank you. The community is what keeps me going with this writing thing. If y'all decided one day to not like my writing and stop reading it for whatever reason (lack of a posting schedule not included... lol) then I'll start having a net word count of zero.

It still looks interesting; I hope the storyline has the depth it hints at. If it is just an item farming, upgrade grinding type of game it will get old fast. The battle/dueling system looks really good though and the world still looks nice. The Character they chose to use looked limited as far as character creations, but some of the examples they sort of sped through looked decent. A little cartoonish for my liking, coming from Mass Effect and Dragon Age, although ME: Andromeda's character creation and action movements were hilariously awful.

Just to see if they believe me or not.

Thank you for reading this story so far! Maybe it is the calm before the calm? 😮 Maybe I'm not one of these cruel authors that torture their poor characters... lol Dates be expensive these days, hell going through the drive-thru is expensive, so either way Jackson was going to have to open his wallet. Lol. Aww, you're not the only one that thinks the two guys are starting to drift a little bit. I'm not going to lie; the thought is a little bit surprising for me. Also, I don't think I could keep up the romance and sexiness if there was a plush hippo squeaking under my head either... lol. *Grabs her water sprayer* Cool off Steven. Tsk tsk tsk. Right? This comment broke me a little bit when I first read it. It surprised me that more than a few of you are thinking the same thing. I don't know if it is comfort with one another vs. being uncomfortable in their surroundings? Feeling close, but having to be distant at the same time? It would be a weird feeling that I don't think I am doing justice in my writing. Luke did flirt on the boardwalk to the point where Jackson exploded and Luke let himself be kissed in a semi-public setting, for me that was progress. They did have to travel half a state away, seemingly, to get there, but he got there. The next chapter, for the most part, might help solidify their relationship a bit more. They've already said they loved one another and planned a bit of a future together in tentative little steps. Yeah having them at odds about Georgia was beginning to bog me down, so I just ripped the band aid off. Luke didn't specifically say that he would be following Jackson to Georgia though. At least Jackson knows the offer is on the table and he painted a pretty compelling picture - probably. lol. Also tons of detentions, if they're the aftermath of something fun and memorable are totally worth it... maybe? I don't know, I behaved myself in school.. lol I did have friends that were a lot like Jackson, Toby, and Derek though and they were a lot of fun to be around. Trouble or not. Thank you for reading this story so far. I am glad you still seem to like the story. I'm glad you're back, welcome back! I'm glad you chose my story to read when you did, sorry if you're not feeling the pain of everyone else with the delays between posting. My Senior year, I can remember being full of fun and free time as I already had most of my credits and had easy classes and free "study periods." Towards the end, it was bitter sweet though, we were finally at the top of the school, only to leave everything we've known since Kindergarten. I bounced around between colleges when I was going, I didn't like dorm living and I didn't know what I wanted to study. What I ended up with wasn't my first choice, it wasn't a choice I thought I would enjoy at all, but I love it now, mostly. There is a bit of an effort to stay friends with people into adulthood, I have a core friend group that I do try to stay in contact with. A few of them are moving out of state soon though, so that will suck. All the girls that I know have families and children too, some around the same age and we're trying to force some friendships onto our children in hopes they have the experiences together that we did... Is it selfish? Maybe... lol but it gives us an excuse to plan get togethers, so the kids will just have to suck it up. ------------- Also, I do want to apologize that it took me ages to respond. The comments did make me take a step back and think about some things. I know how I want the story to go, but I am thinking these little scenes aren't as impacting as I need them to be. So I do apologize if I have some of you worried about the story and characters in general. The last thing I want anyone to do is DNF because of something I've changed or written. I don't think the story or characters are off-track or derailed, I just need to make an effort to restore some faith in them. Maybe I will, maybe I won't? I don't know, I hope I do.