BigBen

It's not surprising that authors don't like to receive anything less than five stars, but it seems bad form to tell a reader not to leave a review with less than that. Since, when someone clicks on the Story menu the first umpteen stories to show up are all in progress and therefore have no reviews, it seems a bit silly to focus on reviews, when we users are being trained not to look for them. And in any case, my tastes are so idiosyncratic that it's simply easier to start reading a likely-looking story and form my own opinion, rather than rely on anyone else's. By the way, does anyone know why the system prompts readers to leave a review before they start reading, rather than after? I've always wondered.

A colony of rats is called a mischief, and any one who has kept pet rats can tell you why.

Since a quick Internet search reveals shirts tucked in and shirts untucked in equal numbers, and even a couple of half-tucked shirts, I think you guys are just yanking chains. 😄

Fashion suicide? I've been tucking or not tucking, according to the whim of the moment, for years now, and have never gotten flak either way. Of course, I'm old enough that peer pressure is much less of a concern than it used to be, so I might have been getting flak and not noticed. Of course, tucking your shirt into your underpants is absolute fashion suicide, but at least freeballing prevents that kind of faux pas.

While women are often squeamish about the thought of people not wearing underpants, guys often find it a lot more comfortable. I vary the style (or existence) of underwear according to circumstances. Even in a lightweight summer wool suit, a T-shirt and underpants are essential to keeping cool—not to mention saving on the drycleaning bills. And in the winter where I live, extra layers are often a good idea. In summer, I'd go nude all the time, if I could get away with it. When I do wear underpants (I normally have no need for a T-shirt, since I'm usually wearing one as outerwear), I vary these days between boxers and boxer briefs. I generally use the fly, because it's more efficient than having to dig inside my trousers to find the top of the underpants. Some guys pull down their trousers and underpants at the urinal, but that's too complicated for me. I also find that if one wishes the benefits of freeballing without staining one's trousers, a pair of very loose boxers is a tolerable compromise. I used to wear tight bikini-style briefs, until I contracted a massive, systemic case of poison ivy; for years after that, I had to wear loose boxers, and eventually I came to prefer them, for the most part.

A good writer is a good writer. But a lot of the writers on Internet fiction sites are still learning to write, and there are pitfalls inexperienced writers fall into. Some of them appear to be rooted in the differing sexual psychologies of the two sexes, though many more are not. None of these pitfalls is insuperable to a writer with imagination and a strong desire to communicate with as many readers as possible. I do think, however, that there are two issues relevant here. The first is that the two sexes experience sexual contact from very different perspectives, and it takes some skill as a writer to be able to work out how the dynamics change when it's two men or two women getting together. For one thing, the power differential is very different in a same-sex relationship. Is it important to reflect that in m/m or f/f romance? The second issue is that the goals of heterosexual sex are very different from the goals of sex for same-sex couples. One important implication is that, in real life, gay men and gay women, not having penis-in-vagina sex as an option, give a lot more value to sexual practices that the heterosexual world dismisses as "not real sex." Yet m/m romance seems to endorse the heteronormative view and require the characters to have penis-in-anus sex—because it is the closest that two men can come to penis-in-vagina sex—which is, in turn, the sine qua non of m/f romance. (Which gives one to wonder how writers of f/f romance cope, given that penis-in-anus and penis-in-vagina are both off the table in their case.) And so the question inevitably becomes, how would readers react, if someone were to post a story in which the culmination of the two guys' love was their fabulous oral sex, and they had no interest whatsoever in trying anal?

I fervently join you in that hope.

I don't believe it is appropriate for random readers on a site like this to try to offer criticism, however kindly intended. In order to be constructive, criticism has to be offered in the context of an established relationship of trust and friendship. There is too much room for misinterpretation in comments on a site such as this one. Better to be positive, or else say nothing at all—and sometimes even a comment the poster considers positive can sound hurtful to the author. Given all that, it would seem that the only practical course to take, whether a work is not to one's taste or not up to one's standards, is simply to move on to some other story.

Especially given the rumors circulating about him.

It's a sweet, poignant story, and one I like to come back to, from time to time.

Something about this story caught my eye, so I broke my rule about avoiding unfinished stories. And sure enough, by the time I managed to read through to the latest available chapter, it had been marked as on hold. And the beginning is so promising, too. I really like Ronnie and Taran. I keep coming back, hoping against hope for a new chapter. Oh, well. . . .

I don't normally read works in progress, as too many of them end up on long-term hold, but these stories are so cute I can't resist. Mrs. Travers seems to be the fly in the ointment here, but Mr. Travers is clearly on to her and I have every confidence he will stand up for his boy. It is a blessing to have at least one parent in one's corner. And "Would I Lie to You?" is a great show. I'm a big fan of David Mitchell's.

A great little story about a closeted university student on a winter holiday in the Lake District. He becomes involved with a rescue team sent up Helvellyn to assist a couple of climbers in trouble. In the course of events, the main character becomes thoroughly acquainted with the team leader. The complication is that the student is still in the closet, whereas the rescue team leader is "the openly gay villager." The story is good-humoured, and the drama is low-key. The two main characters handle their developing relationship calmly and pragmatically, with the kind of matter-of-factness that is the British outlook at its best. There's no great conflict here, merely a charmingly-drawn slice of life. Any reader who finds the story at all congenial is likely to be drawn back periodically to read it again. It's a great little story.

Just re-read this on AwesomeDude. I didn't know it was posted here, as well. It's a great story. Makes me want to visit the Lake District!

We've been fortunate. My niece and nephew both contracted the virus, but we have been able to keep my ninety-year-old father safe, so far. He has repeatedly tested negative, as have my sister and I. A dear friend of mine, who is a nurse-practitioner, came down with the virus a few weeks after her second shot, and she credits the vaccine with her survival (she is in her seventies, still working, and still going strong). I am hoping that, should Dad become infected, he will be equally fortunate and also have a mild case.

Casper van Dien was gorgeous, but he was no Juan Rico, that's for sure.

Kate Griffin is the open pseudonym used by Catherine Webb for her urban magic novels. She states that her publisher (or was it her agent?) advised using a pseudonym in order to spare her young adult readers the confusion of running across a novel written in a wildly different genre. Amanda Cross was the pseudonym adopted by the late Professor Carolyn Heilbrun of Barnard College for her mystery novels. Her detective was Kate Fanshaw, a professor at an unnamed women's college in New York City. At the time I was introduced to the series, Heilbrun's true identity was as yet unknown, and many believed it was because she was not entirely kind to the colleagues she skewered. It could also have been simply because academics who write popular works are shunned by their colleagues, especially if the books sell. Eventually, the novels became popular enough for Heilbrun to drop the pseudonym, and the later books were billed as "by Carolyn Heilbrun, writing as Amanda Cross."

Stellar's profile won't load on my desktop, either. I am using Vivaldi on Windows 10. Is the Vivaldi engine Chrome-based? If so, that would tend to confirm others' Chrome-related problems. On the other hand, my profile loads almost instantaneously. What is the difference between our profiles?

Yeah, Truman started the process of racially integrating the U.S. Army, but it took decades longer for being gay to stop being a reason for a dishonorable discharge. I know gay guys who served before Don't Ask, Don't Tell was implemented, and they had to be extremely careful, especially during the periodic witch hunts. Depending on what they were caught doing, they could well have ended up in Leavenworth, as well as discharged. I was very fortunate that the Viet Nam draft ended just before my number got called up.

Halfway Home, by Paul Monette

I enjoyed the slog across Marduk and the machinations to get rid of the bad guy, but there was something a bit unsatisfying about how it all got tied up at the end. Of course, they left enough loose ends to have quite a few more volumes, so perhaps that was on purpose?

Our joke used to be, "It's not a bug, it's a feature!"

I've run into that "coke" thing. In New England, we do the same thing, except everything's "tonic." If you want what most of the country calls "tonic water," you have to ask for "quinine." Television and the movies are homogenizing the language, but I savor the regional differences that remain.

Wow! You came back with a vengeance! It might not have worked, having T.J. show up at the hospital, but you certainly managed it. I'm glad you kept the vinegar between him and John, instead of making them all sweet and sappy with each other. I was actually looking for a different story on Nifty, when I saw the new chapter of this story, so I re-read it from the beginning, and I just have to say how enjoyable it is. T.J. is a hoot! So now, look, I read Gaiman's blog post, "George R. R. Martin Is Not Your Bitch," and I take his point, but nevertheless, you need to keep writing and write fast, you hear? I'm gonna need another T.J. fix, and soon! 😁 Seriously, I'm sorry to hear about all that's been going on for you, and I truly hope you can have an easier time for a while. Thank you for this chapter, and God bless.