Bondwriter

OK, I just spotted that the lounge had 1,999 topics. Since numbers are important, and that most members do not have their birthday every day, and do not post their 10,000th message either, I thought I'd open a thread for general greetings and rejoicing. So, pour your heart, thank the loved ones, scream out your joy, and let the world know GA's a great place to be!

Now that an author on the site had eventually managed to get us rid of Michael Myers permanently, you're going to revive Blackheart after his nice flight and his fall? To me it was understood he was out of the picture, permanently. A goat in a tight tie is needed before getting the barbecue going. These animals can escape, can't they? I hope you didn't spend all of your savings, but this is way worth the 300 bucks. So not only does CJ redefine the meaning of "lurker", but also this of "fashion-insensitive". Thanks for your investigation.

Praising quality, good! The Goat did some decent posting, making comments that are to the point, speaking his heart in a debate, yet not blasting others with weighty arguments, never losing his patience with the Frosty One, ... Though CJames' lurking claims make me wonder about his sanity, no doubt your last wish will come true.

This was nothing half as bad as starving children. Not that none of this would happen in France, but though abuse occurs, and even malnutrition (more quality than quantity anyway), when you see people in distress, they're usually adults. Though the time I saw an ex-student from the school I worked in panhandling --I'd known him from ages 10 to 16-- and apparently inebriated at 10 in the morning, I had quite a shock. For the guys in the train, they could have been delinquent (petty thieves or something), but what struck me, compared to other "juvenile delinquents" you can meet, and who look like they don't give a crap, was they really looked scared when I saw them sitting in the train.

Wait until the cows come home. Ou quand les poules auront des dents. Ou quand les ch

Were I you CJ, I'd be quite pissed no one mentioned the quality of your posts, some even going to the extent of claiming they're four times less good than others'. Don't go on a CHAPTER posting strike, though. That would be quite Ericy. Benji, you're a man after my own heart! Welcome to the club! I hope the boys get in the tunnel, find Eric and accidentally reduce him to ashes ("Oops! Did I really get the flame thrower working by doing all that?")

Happy Birthday, Jamie! A year full of sweet things! (I know your name's not Stephanie, but just pretend! )

So they get some extra vacation, all expenses paid. Not too bad, is it? And some payback with the flashy shirt, thanks to Bob, as Ieshwar pointed out. Still no news from Eric? I

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Oops! Forty miles East, yes. With the Red River in the backyard. But in the front yard, it was flat for miles and miles and miles, and with so few trees! The place wasn't too bad, but you had to drive another 50 or 60 miles east or south east to see some hilly landscapes. Which were beautiful indeed.

Yes, I'm original and creative in my titles! Thanks for stopping by, guys, you rock. Lots of good news today: the lessons I gave in Paris went well, I got some translation job at a proper rate (yeah! good money!), I had lunch with a good friend, and the weather was just perfect: sunny and in the 70s (23

I had exactly the same fear and just wondered how CJ would get around killing his characters in the 1st person. As for the character development issue, CJ seems to want to tell more about his characters through what they do. It works for me.

Strangely enough, we've had exactly the weather I imagined for my anthology story. Last year at the same time, there was a major heat wave (90

This is where I think more should be said about not fearing one's fantasies. Not for gays only, but for society as a whole. You're better off unleashing your dominant tendencies in a role-play with consenting partners than in bullying employees, or worse, being power-mad and on a corporate board or a government. Actually, I discovered this peculiar kinky interest through fiction (comics, TV series) that featured distress. If you read The Adventures of Simon I posted in eFiction, that's what we aimed at. The lead character is a boy-hero, hence leaving aside any sexual innuendo (well, at least for me, the first host for our site didn't see it this way), and gets into tie-up situations all the time. I wanted to deal with this fantasy for an all-age audience, and I'm proud to say the most touching feedback came from teens the stories made feel good, or at least helped to identify these fantasies as being just that, and not a mean streak that made them evil. In CJames' story (which I imagine you've all read by now, if not, brace yourselves for a breathtaking marathon, because once you begin you can't stop), what is a bit of a turn-off is that the characters are left there to die, and are damn close of getting there. In old comics, the tie-up stuff always hinders the heroes temporarily, and they free themselves or get rescued, so you sigh with relief, after having had these weird feelings as you watched the scene. It doesn't have to be, my friend! The first story I posted in eFiction, The Perils of Mathurin, which was a fiasco in terms of feedback (which doesn't matter since I got tons on other boards/ forums, even from straight people) tries to answer this issue. Having a lengthy (150 pages, only five or six posted here, most of it is in French) bondage story. It is semi-consensual (completely consensual doesn't allow for much action) with twists in the plot, betrayals, deceptions, alliances, and guys bound & gagged at every page. So, thanks for replying, I don't feel like a total weirdo.

If you thought Friday the 13th is bad, you just have to wait for Monday the 16th. This sucks. I hope you can get it fixed without losing all your savings.

Yes, North Dakota is flat and boring. But one can manage to live in such places. I was amazed at how I could have enjoyed living in Minnesota, 40 miles west of Grand Forks when I went to spend a year as an exchange student. But somehow, when you're a high school student, with band activities, sports and a few social stuff, you may have a fun and fulfilling time. I went back ten years ago for Christmas, and as you drive north from Minneapolis, the distances from one town to the other stretch until you can drive fifteen or twenty miles without crossing a town, usually made up of two streets intersecting, with the farm co-op buildings and possibly a grocery store and a bar/ diner. I don't regret my year there, but it's definitely not the place I'd go and settle in. I still love your geographical descriptions. Thanks for the trip.

I was afraid CJames would once again alienate the locals living where his stories take place. I don't know if he got an official stamp of approval from the Hawaii Board of Tourism, for his efforts at making it appealing, but I'm not surprised he got his facts right. I had not seen this from this angle, but it makes me want to watch more Bollywood. I thought that at last I had found a method to find a soul mate. Sadly enough, we have a few storms every once in a while over here, no hurricanes, no volcanoes. Moving a few hundreds of miles south, there are forest fires, which would be my best bet. So guys, this is not only a nicely written story (read Graeme's review above, he manages to say all the clever literary things), this is a set of instructions on how to pick up guys. Down with the nightclubs, college campuses or even the occasional church youth group. Here is the best method to find yourself a cute, blond, shirtless boy friend. 1/ Find a dangerous activity. Surfing is OK, but of course kite-surfing, wind-surfing, rock climbing, parachuting, free-falling and all similar activities are OK. Cross-country biking or Formula 1 racing work too, but require greater skill and are more costly. 2/ Hang out for a while once you've become a master at this sport. You're getting to the tricky part. 3/ If you've been doing everything well, Fate will reward you. It always does. You should now spot a good-looking guy. DON'T COME OUT RIGHT AWAY. This would spoil the fun. Act shy, he will too. Get to know him, but don't be too blunt. 4/ The cute, lonely, weird-acting guy should be doing something reckless. Of course, as you haven't told him you liked him, and haven't been able to pick up the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle telling you he's gay too, and has trouble dealing with it, you haven't identified his suicidal tendencies. BUT, you feel love deep in your heart for him, which will help tremendously. So, he goes for his reckless suicide attempt. NOW HAS COME THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR MOVE. This is also a trial, or as they said in the Middle Age, an ordeal. 5/ Gather all your skills and experience, and just GO FOR IT. This is the hour of truth. If you've trained enough, and you have enough true feelings for him, the adrenalin rush and whatever magic power drives you will manage to have you save the guy. Then, having come close to death, he should collapse in your arms and reveal that he has had the hots for you too; your saving his life makes it all the more powerful than if you hadn't followed the advice in #3. Of course, if you fail the ordeal, you'll rest six feet under a few days later. But this method is 100% efficient and guarantees a life-long happiness and bliss if you go through the whole process unhurt. So, to sum it up: *a great story *great guys *great advice *great surfing *great sightseeing *poor kids jeopardized by a goat (authors shouldn't threaten their characters with violent death, a law should be passed against this)

Yes, you guys/ gals rock. I'll get back to reading, and start commenting on these great stories.

Happy Birthday!

Clumber, this actually comes from a show that's called "Lazy Town". Obviously meant to promote hedonism to the youth. I'm appalled, as you might easily imagine.

How sweet to show your love in such a motherly manner!

To start with, thanks to those who took the time to leave a comment. I agree, L0st Cause, small venues offer great shows. And the singer for French Kiss is a 18/ 20-year old girl, who doesn't look like her Janis Joplin-like voice, just so you know, Carl and Conner. I'd like to use my blog to contribute to a debate that's been going on in many threads, and avoiding to cluster Shadowgod's blog with my rambling. The porn/ erotica/ sex in fiction debate. The biggest thing for me is that whatever reactions fiction/ writing aim to cause in a reader, (having him laugh, think, cry or get sexually aroused) what matters is that it manages to provoke these feelings. A good erotic story, or even a good pornographic one, is before all a good story. There should be an atmosphere, characters, language that's adequate to the situations, etc. Whereas I like erotica, I'm not exactly begging for sex scenes in stories in which there's a plot that's not focused on showing the characters having sex. The thing has also to do with my own weird fantasies. I like bondage. I have an uncanny taste for situations in which characters are bound and gagged. This element is almost as important for me as the gender and looks of the characters. The first erotica I read on the Internet was straight bondage fiction. As in all genres, there are good writers, and poor ones. People who write great stories, with silly situations that work, and some whom you leave after ten lines because you know it's hopeless. Strangely enough, there's very little gay bondage fiction. It's always widely mixed with SM; people, consensually or not, inflicting pain to each other. This is not my thing. I like kidnapping situations that end up well (the person freed and the kidnapper in jail), semi-consensual games between willing players, and tons of other variations on these themes. I know, this is weird. It took a while to accept these fantasies, on top of same-sex attraction, and not to be completely ridden with guilt. Colin quoted Popeye somewhere, saying "I yam what I yam." This is sound thinking. I've been on bondage boards on which people were as eager to find out the "Why?" of their fantasies. As much as quite a few here would like to know they're gay. I've given up on finding out. No fantasy is bad, some fantasies should not be enacted. Other people's fantasies are of two kinds: they make you laugh or they make you puke. Mine would fall in the first category for lots of people, but who cares? Many fantasies question the domination/ submission realm, and I'm rather sure that lots of people I've come across at work who behave like jerks must have unresolved issues with theirs. All the people I've met in real life who take a step in acknowledging these d/s fantasies are well-balanced, honest and kind. So, yes, a good erotic story is one that will let you know you're part of humanity and this part of imagination that makes the brain an erogenous zone is not yours and yours only.

Sometimes it started getting silly as early as on Friday. Of course, once we get to quoting Elton John on goats...

Well, this is obviously an incentive to loot and sail. "Do what you want because a pirate's free." Some secular humanist morals, and little girl pirates who dress in pink. I don't see how evil this pirate is.