JeffsFort

Coming from the group that both collectively stated that at least one author has had a serious impact on their lives and also that they regretted not being more interactive with this particular article, I find that hard to believe and am honestly surprised. The reason I asked the community if we should continue this article was because Comicality himself often questioned why it was so difficult to get feedback or community involvement with any of these articles, we all do at times to be honest. I knew at some point we'd slip back into that rut but it's disappointing that we only just relaunched in July and already in August there is no more than one person responding. (Thank you for that by the way SilentandBroken.) On my end this is absolutely not the same without him and I know that many wanted to see it continue to just not have to see it all screech to a halt, which of course would hurt worse. It's why we have tried to keep so much of the original themes intact. End of the day, I do need to watch closely and constantly question if what we're doing is helping or not. We all put so much work into each issue and now it is a real possibility that without Comsie, it could simply just not work anymore and this could be a sign of just that or, it's just the same issue that would seem to bring him down at times. Normally I'd be there to support him through his disappointment and now, I'm kinda forced to take it on the chin for him. I'll try to figure out a way to post this one and maybe post another question to see if "Comsie Q&A" has just had a bad month or if we should consider retiring it. I thought a community based article was something we could continue because we were all involved. Maybe I just didn't consider all the working parts involved without the man who made us want to be involved in the first place. I mean, IM seems to have resumed it's regular traffic for now so, maybe we should rely on the auto-pilot he set for us a little less than I had anticipated.

Just checking in because I'm starting to assemble August's issue and noticed that excluding my answer, there is only one other. I do remember Comsie mentioning that there were times he'd just skip posting the question because it got no responses and sadly, this may be one of those questions. If it stays this light I guess I'll put it off until September because a Q&A with only one answer isn't much to post.

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I will be having my bank cut another check to send down shortly. Comsie's mom was absolutely floored with the last check and we have another $700 and change to send her which she is not expecting ::grin::. I want to thank everyone for helping in this mission to make sure she has some help in attempting to rearrange her household budget now that it has been permanently reduced and impacted by the sizable expense of a funeral. She now knows that her son had a huge impact on more people than she could ever even fathom and that is an added legacy that she considers a gift now. I can tell you that she is a wonderful person who raised an absolutely amazing man and all the work put in was well worth it!. It does appear that donations are now starting to slow so I think we should plan to shut down the GoFundMe soon. Possibly let it ride through August and then turn off the lights, unless it picks up again. Know that you all have played another huge part in helping Comicality, by helping to look out for his mother now that he can only watch over her. I know it would mean a great deal to him. I personally can tell you that it has to his mother. For that I can't thank you all enough! ::HUGZ:: - Jeff

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I will be having my bank cut another check to send down shortly. Comsie's mom was absolutely floored with the last check and we have another $700 and change to send her which she is not expecting ::grin::. I want to thank everyone for helping in this mission to make sure she has some help in attempting to rearrange her household budget now that it has been permanently reduced and impacted by the sizable expense of a funeral. She now knows that her son had a huge impact on more people than she could ever even fathom and that is an added legacy that she considers a gift now. I can tell you that she is a wonderful person who raised an absolutely amazing man and all the work put in was well worth it!. It does appear that donations are now starting to slow so I think we should plan to shut down the GoFundMe soon. Possibly let it ride through August and then turn off the lights. Know that you all have played another huge part in helping Comicality, by helping to look out for his mother now that he can only watch over her. I know it would mean a great deal to him. I personally can tell you that it has to his mother. For that I can never thank you all enough! ::HUGZ::

Hi everyone, This post is somewhat in response to quite a few emails I have received through IMAGINE Magazine regarding expiration of all that Comicality had built online. It needs to be said that all of his works always have been and for as long as it exists I'm sure that it always will be safe and sound. Both here on gayauthors.org and with everything hosted on the "Fort Family" servers. This includes his email address right along with his sites. The sites shackoutback.net and gfdbloodbank.com will continue to be maintained and of course imagine-magazine.org has resumed it's posting schedule for as long as there is interest. I am unable to resume the mail list as it was and really don't want to bother Myr every month to inform of magazine launches to have him relay the information. I am looking into options to replace that portion of communication but, my focus has been on recovering his community site work, and that is ongoing. So, if you have done what I have and and emailed Comsie to talk to him, for as long as I am around to maintain the hosting service, his email will never just bounce. It is unmonitored now with an autoresponder but, maybe somehow he's getting those messages anyway. I'd like to think so at least. ::HUGZ::

I was worried about this one because I thought we would have a hard time filling an issue without Comsie. Turns out he was with us right along. Thanks to Myke D,. The Story Lover, Turtleboy, ACFan, our 3D cast, and all the authors who lent us their work, we have Issue 105 and I think we did okay! (Of course I'm a little biased but... 😁) https://imagine-magazine.org/releases/volume-105/

Assembling the article now, thanks for the answers guys ::HUGZ::

Every few years this comes up somewhere. You could be looking back at an old favorite or something you read yesterday just sucker punches you in the thought processes and makes you reevaluate...everything! It's very rare that someone doesn't have one or two stories about a story that simply changed the game in a dramatic way. For me, I'm not going to focus on a Comicality story even though I could very easily. I know *gasp* right? But honestly, I'm sure he'd agree with this one. So back when I was sitting at my little desk in one of my very first apartments and tying up the phone line to crawl the internet, I found the Nifty Archive. There were quite a few stories being posted on the new platform that simply spoke to a side of me that I had spent an enormous portion of my life at that point hiding. I'd like to say that I was confused about my sexuality but that wouldn't be right. It was more of a self hatred for having to be different. I felt alone, I felt out of place, and I felt undesirable and broken. As I learned over the passing of time, I was not alone. But I was reading stories that portrayed relationships that were closer to what I felt was what I was looking for. The story that kicked me right in the chest was in that archive, but not what I expected at all and in my oppinion had no business in the internet's largest textual porn collection, LOL. It was a story by Gary Q. called: Patient John Doe. I don't remember specifically why I opened it and started reading it outside of the fact that I was opening just about everything and starting into it. If it held my attention out of the gate, I read it. If it had no story and jumped right into skin on skin with some unsuspecting boy, I was out. this story started straight into a short introduction of the character who would be our perspective, and following a very tense opening in the Emergency Room at the hospital he worked at, we would find our Patient John Doe struggling to hang on to life. It was at that point I realized I was invested and would spend every moment I could reading, or waiting for the next chapter. Now I have many stories from the late 90s into the early 2000s from before the launch of our online community, and this wasn't the first amazing work I had read but the sentiment laced into it's paragraphs kind of redefined what could be accomplished by the right author. I reached out to Gary Q. at some point and told him that I was absolutely in love with his story and he responded within a few hours, giving me my first glimpse of a personality that would serve to be my first partner in attempting to give back to the online community. Through him I met ACFan who is like a real brother to this day and began my journey in building my online family. In repurposing a crappy free forum I had built for my site to discuss Gary's writing we accidentally caught the attention of someone who wanted to nurture what we had started and our community was born... it all started with an accidental reading of Patient John Doe. To this day, the community that he helped to found hosts a full website dedicated to his known works located at https://garysgarden.us which we have been maintaining for about two decades at this point. The Gary's Garden I first got too know was much, much different: https://web.archive.org/web/20030812121135/http://www.koolpages.com/garysgarden/ and it is so funny to look back at it now, missing graphics and all. Such simpler times... So, Patient John Doe is that story for me as it redirected an enormous chunk of what I would decide to do with my time on the internet, including my ability to help IMAGINE Magazine 6 years ago and, up to our work to keep it alive through to today. All on the same server that hosts that one incredible story from so long ago. I'd say we've come full circle but, there are so many circles yet to go

There is one thing I have learned that is really common feedback given to many amateur authors that even Comicality would be a little speechless when he got hit with. It is a comment that can be given as a compliment and is monumental the first time you hear it. I mean, we all hope that something we write resonates with a few readers and we can get that 'warm all over feeling' when someone says they enjoyed something we wrote. But the one that hits you right in the knees and catches you off guard is when someone says that something you wrote actually impacted their life. I mean, you would think of all people Comicality would have been used to hearing it but no, you never get used to hearing it and, often try to regain your footing again by telling yourself that the reader is just exaggerating or being kind. I've had a few conversations with him and with other authors and we all agree, it's something that is beyond gratifying to hear and normally is a little beyond belief. Often times it's a story that depicts the life you wish you had, the life you survived against all the odds, the life you just couldn't escape...something for just about every one of us was a real 'GAME CHANGER'. The one that gets us to step back and reevaluate our own situation or reminisce about something that was important to us. Often it feels like it mirrors something we experienced and is doubly amazing to hear coming from someone else. It happens way more than you would think. Most everyone I've ever talked to about it has one story that they instantly bring up when you hit the topic and it usually becomes a very passionate conversation as a result. As a reader you hope to find the next one and as an author, it is so cool to hear that someone else was as moved by your fiction as you were yourself. So for this month's question, what was your 'Game Changer' story and how did it fit into "Your" story?

That seems to be a little glitch with the website although their system may be designed to not show it publicly until the donation has gone through it's verification process. Refreshing it generally updates all information. Even the app lags a bit with new donations so, it may be more by design than error. If you used a valid email address when placing the donation, you should have received the automated thank you email as well as one from me directly once I see it. That's when you know for sure it's making it to destination. Thanks for helping this have a positive impact for her. I only wish i could do more

There was a direct message for us all from his mother, it's posted here:

Another Update: Cool one too... First and most important, the GoFundMe is still up. There have been a small hand full of people who have expressed their desire to help further. I bent the truth a bit and told her i didn'tt think i could shut it down because of the high goal i set for it. It sounded like a good reason to me. Yesterday the first payout of $2320.00 arrived at her house and while I was sleeping in preparation for an overnight payroll run, I recieved a text that is intended for us all: My response this morning: So, thanks to all of you for helping lighten her load a little. I put in way too much work when it comes to the online stuff sometimes and for my extended family, I would gladly put in even more. This one I absolutely could not do alone. ::HUGZ::

Absolutely. I'll maintain that as long as there is interest in helping her. The first payout arrived at her house yesterday and I got a really sweet message to relay to everyone in a moment 🥲

Funny because that was the tone of the conversation from my end. She knows that there are a lot of people out there that her son absolutely left his mark on, and that we all want to help but because of the whole "Comicality" thing, it's difficult. When I told her we wanted to memorialize him by helping one of the most important people in his life, she may have realized it would be futile to try to refuse to let us try. I know this is something Comsie probably never expected and with how super private he was, we are in a unique position to try to give her a hand. I love and miss her son an awful lot. I really consider myself lucky to be able to help her in any way and I'm taking you all with me on that mission Thanks for making the attempt something really special! :HUGZ::

Update: I spoke with "Momicality" yesterday after having difficulty getting her on the phone for over a week. Apparently there have been other issues that just aren't letting up. They dealt with a couple of other deaths in the family over the past year and her younger sister broke her ankle recently so, she's been taking care of her. I sooooooo wish I lived closer to her. Anyway: The fund raiser has brought in about $2500 at this point that I will be cutting a cashier's check and mailing to her. (I'd just name her beneficiary and have it pay directly to her but, she's Comicality's mom... He got his technophobia from somewhere. I now know where. LOL!) I told her how many people pitched in and how much had been collected and she was absolutely stunned. She asked that I thank everyone here and that I shut down the GoFundMe as she thinks it's some kind of imposition. My response: "I think I know how to end it. Let me look into it." hehehe. I'll let it go a little longer and send a second check because some people are still just now finding it. I'll send it with a note. "Oops, I thought I know how to shut it down." LOL! Thanks for helping with this everyone. I have no idea how she is staying so strong through all of this but I'm glad we can be supportive at the very least. ::HUGZ::

The hardest step is always the first one... IMAGINE Issue 104 is now live. ::HUGZ:: to everyone who helped hold me up while getting this one put together. It means the world to me! - Jeff https://imagine-magazine.org/releases/volume-104/

You mean like on GA? It's been there since the fundraiser started. Thanks to all of you for helping. "Momicality" has been overwhelmed by the concern and the love we have all shown. It's completely floored her that he had this totally other life that she only kind of knew existed, and that we all loved her son as much as we did. She has found small things in his room that now make sense, one of them is a weird name that she wouldn't have known but now knows means the worlds to soooo many. The name "Comicality" 🥲

For the longest time my answer to this question would be an easy "Taryn" from Gone From Daylight, as after reading "Taryn's Song" my heart just broke from his origin story. Even when things were looking up for him, there was another test around the corner. Something else in his afterlife that was intended to trip him up and break him down. But right now, he's not front and center in my brain. My "I wish he was real..." character is/was to a certain degree very much real. I'm talking about "Zack" from "My Only Escape" which we all know is based the most closely on Comicality's real life situation in the overall story. Sure, every story he ever started has an aspect of his real life embedded in it but 'M.O.E.' gave us a real glimpse into what our Comicality survived from his past. The first time I ever read it, it was hard for me to see past my own situation with my biological father. He was another who got some kind of twisted entertainment out of dominating and tormenting his children and wife. Being the oldest, I caught the brunt of it and when he started turning his messed up games on my little brother or even younger sister, I would get loud and in his face so he would leave them alone, as I had done in the past to get him to leave my mother alone. Who had it worse, I don't know honestly. Same yet different except, Zack felt he had no one in his corner. Comicality, just like Zack was an only child with a working mother who simply wasn't able to know all that went on when she was at work, and Zack even demonstrates how he did what he could to not overwhelm her with the situation. In his eyes he was protecting her by soldiering on. In a way I guess this is cheating the question as Zack is or was in many ways actually a real person that I love and miss very much. In re-reading this story recently, I'm doing better at detaching my own past from the story. I'm finally not seeing my own father in the place of the father and Zack in my eyes is that young and tortured Comicality that I just want to hug and protect. Starting the read again, I find myself wishing I could be there to get between him and his father so he can focus on his crush on Brody without the storm cloud looming overhead. I wish he was real because I wish for some form of Comsie to not have this darkness be a part of their story. So, I'm going with Zack. For unspeakable acts, I'd probably have to say Billy Chase ~or~ Jake from Shelter, but that would be another answer for another question

After quite a few conversations with other readers of the works of my favorite online bossy boss ::giggle::, I've come to the conclusion that we all have many things in common when it comes to how we respond to the characters in our favorite "Shack" story. I think it's funny that of any other author, if you ever said you had an honest crush on their main character in 'X' titled novel, everyone in the room, including the author, would probably give you a weird look. That's commonly not the case with our Shack group and a day going by without some form of character crush being outed is an off day for any of us. (I see you nodding over there So, of all the stories that Comicality wrote, in all the worlds that he created, which character is your "I wish he was real..." character. You can wish it for any reason. You want to help him, you want to hug him, you want to be his boyfriend and do unspeakable things to him... You get the idea.

Hi guys! Sorry everything has been moving so slowly. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't planning every single step based on where not to walk lately. We all know that Comicality was a very private person. Very few know who he was in his offline life and of those people, he still managed to control exactly what info he would share. I was blessed enough to be in the inner circle when it was needed most so, I'm planning that next step based on a few questions I've received regarding being able to offer help to Comicality's mother after suffering a reduction in income and the large expense of his final arrangements. Of course, she doesn't even know who "Comicality" is, which is unfortunate and makes this all difficult, but not impossible. After speaking to her regarding the fact that Comsie had a lot of friends online who want to find a way to help, I explained that we could attempt a fundraiser to try to help get her head above water again. Setting up a GoFundMe for the first time was a little easier than I expected and having it pay directly to her will be just as easy. So, I asked for permission to share the fundraiser here and hopefully get her a little relief from people who cared an awful lot about her son. I plan to share it anywhere I will be allowed to and to continue to protect the privacy of Comicality's legacy and family, will continue to offer her help in any way that I can, including relaying assistance and well wishes from a lot of people she didn't even know existed There's been so much heart hurt since April but, we do have the ability to do something positive with it. Please consider giving Comsie's mom a little help. If all of us gave even just a little, it would be a huge help to someone who was the rock to a person who would become our rock online. Thanks everyone! If you have any questions or comments, let me know here and I'll continue to follow the topic https://gofund.me/6e3c4532

Hmmm.... IMAGINE may need to do an article about them. (He says as if it isn't already written and planned for July, LOL!) They are a lot of fun to listen to!

Oh wow, that does look amazing! Thanks for posting it, gonna have to check it out now

Not to be "that guy" but we lost him just barely over two weeks before his 49th birthday. (He was born in 1975). Still not old enough to consider 'old' though and I can tell you that in spirit he was still that 21 year old I found out there who had just claimed that piece of the internet for us all and was fired up to build on it! I was in direct contact with him up to his final hospitalization and the news still came as an absolute shock. Outside of being understandably tired, he had so much fight left in his voice and plans for tomorrow, like he always did. 😢 In joking when working on one of his sites, I said to a friend that I've been daring him to haunt me so i can have a word with him about all this. Comsie: "Booooooooo...." Me: "Oh good, you're here. Sit down, we need to talk..." 🤭 If only...

Okay... I have a few entries from other sources and I added mine to the first draft. There is some "Behind the Scenes" content in mine so I need to hold it until we launch. Where this question is being asked as a "Comsie Q&A" that's how I'll set it up Thanks MrM! - I should say that where we are planning to launch this on June 15th so get IM back up and running, please try to have your entry by at least June 10th so I have time to format it. * * * Two other things for those of you who still wear your "C" symbol on Shack Holidays: May 2nd is Comsie's birthday, May 28th is Comsie's 18th Annual "Random Cake Holiday" which qualifies as official , and June 19th is the Shack Out Back's 26th anniversary. I've had my "C" symbol on for over a week now... I'll keep it on for a while longer. (Old Shacker traditions, If you aren't aware of this quirky tradition, you can read his original explanation at shackoutback.net and bring your Shack sense of humor with you

Wow, what's haunting me is that I'm just seeing it for the first time now 😭 I typically just assemble them when he sends them to me. Going through his workspace, I saw the cover graphic for it. I should ask you all two questions: 1) Should I post this in Issue 104 that we are in the process of planning since it will be the last Q&A that Comsie created? (We're aiming for June at this point) 2) Do you think we should continue doing them? Some things will need to change but some of them we can do for him. I mean, he put the time into creating the concept and I'm crazy enough to take on the additional workload. What do you all think? *HUGZ*