BendtedWreath

Outside was a large statue of the God of the Earth; the mighty Ohrus.- Earth is Ohrus, ocean is Mother. Got it. Last, from all the clothes, you will need a warm, waterproof jacket. That’s worth spending on lad, because it can save your life, if the worst should happen. - I want me one of those, too. “We will have the roast and two glasses of the best ale, please, Pellier,” Smeeth replied. - This isn't helping my hunger one bit. “Tis because I am not a man. I am a Hydorcivis.” - I wouldn't be announcing that so freely if I were you.

“I must take a wife. You are in my way.” - Now, hold on just a second there! How dare you? “Then you must come with me. This … earther … will never find our home.” - That's good enough for me. Go hide with him, N'than. Go go go. The slim young man pulled off his shirt and then hesitated./“Those also. Remove them.” Qavrind grinned. “I am male, what you have is nothing new to me.” - Your pants or your life? The one who hurt you … if he tried again, I would feed him to the sharks, slowly. - I'm all for that plan, yes. “You rest. I will find us some oysters; we can eat them raw along with some seaweed.” - I didn't expect to feel hungry while reading this. “You’re here. Do you have him?” The soldier sat down on a similar-sized rock. - Wait, they know each other and made an agreement? What's with that soldier finding all these water folk? He doesn't deserve to have come across them. Qa gazed down at his webbed fingers. “There is more … there is the issue of my wife.” - What is with N'than's lousy luck that all the men he's come across are married? “No. If you will not free me, I will just go and try to find my way out. Death would be better than living with all who hate me.” N’than’s words flew from his lips like bats from a cave. - Guy's got a point.

Glad they sorted things out in ways that worked for them.

These characters, love them or hate them, felt real. I have nothing else to say since I can no longer see what I am typing through the tears.

You know what? This, I can get behind. This young, fearless guy is as book smarts as could be, with a strong desire for the aeronautical. His family just drove out on an adventure together just prior to that. I believe he would take that kind of visitation in stride. "What does the universe have in store for me next?" is how it felt. Did I hope for more conflict and for him to struggle more? Also yes. (maybe he had a hard time adjusting to his peers being the youngest, maybe didn't really get along with his mentor...maybe his parents had a flat tire on their route and told him to go ahead without them while they replaced it...maybe the food the visitors laid out for him wasn't to his liking...)

Wait, wait... so you are saying you accidentally deleted something AND you are uploading things while in the middle of camping? With a weak cell signal? Thanks for all the hard work!

This read like a stray episode of westworld or black mirror, even. I followed it alright, but I am familiar with the concepts of statuses and understood what was going on when I saw them. I can't exactly provide any suggestions for making it understandable for general audiences, but if you can figure that out, it'd be a smoother read for all.

This was definitely written with the theme 'hidden' in mind. But, I feel that not everything had to be so very hidden at the beginning. I would have liked a few more hints of Clay's Theran heritage shown from the start...like how he could heal a bit faster and better than other stunt doubles. Then, I would have preferred something bigger to have happened to leave him injured enough to then bring GLARIC in, lest their current liege die without being fully awakened. I did like that there were hints of good leadership in Clay when he came to take over at his parents' lands and kicked Rachel out. But, there were many opportunities to show even more hints without it being obvious to us readers that aliens were involved (I did catch the times when Clay felt watched, but for example, a scene where Clay took a good look at the woods and wondered why it felt like there were more trees and shrubbery than he remembered in his early childhood...or something along those lines to hint at his parents having set up hidden solar panels before that was mentioned). I felt that Clay changing his demeanor and way of speaking after having been awakened felt a bit sudden and even unnecessary. He was already a leader before all of that. This was a good read and I'm sure with more time you may have been able to flesh out more scenes instead of summarizing them towards the end. I was still very much entertained.

Unlike Elijah, who was able to redirect his thoughts, the baby shark song invaded mine for half the chapter. 😂 Ear worms aside, in this chapter, we've caught up with the wolf group!

I liked the way they described their limitations in shifting, tossing in origami for good measure (which made sense). I love their night outing. With how much they enjoy one another's company, I don't think Kage can keep Elijah at a distance for very long, let alone forever.

@Cia, have you been posting these entries by level of intensity, by any chance?

As I sit here staring at this text box, I am desperately trying to figure out how to convince you to read this. This was a most vivid snapshot of what it means to be human, illustrated and punctuated with symbolism that stabs you right through the heart as you immediately empathize with this character that could very well be someone you know, if not yourself. It felt that real.

How heartbreaking. It brought to mind times when I felt similar loss. I can only hope he eventually realizes he can fight for his own happiness just as fervently as he would have fought for that past relationship.

Well, I'm invested. Brendan did a good thing.

Jason has been struggling with a confounding secret. While he had his doubts over the years, he's closer than ever to figuring out his true feelings. Will he be able to keep this secret hidden from the vigilant gazes of his friends, or will he risk their close friendships by speaking his uncertain truth? Either way, it's a Christmas they'll surely remember.

These questions came to me a bit late so I'm posting them where they should go so that the author can answer them at some point: I feel like we were left hanging a bit on who Owen was that he was so insistent on Jason being in the same debate team with him and having forgotten him. Did Owen recently dye his hair or something? Did he wear glasses?

Posted in time to still be considered "Christmas in July." I'm glad his friends were so honest when it came down to it. Glad he no longer has to worry about how they feel about it, either. This was a great read. I was so invested in Jason's struggles that I nearly missed my train stop this morning. 😂

Would you believe she thinks they can ‘pray the gay away’,” she huffed, rolling her eyes, even doing the little air quote thing with her fingers. “If you ask me,” she continued. “She ought to be trying to pray the gray away. Have you seen that woman’s roots?” - 🤣🤣🤣

The arrogance of these two. 🤣 Kage's created a monster, indeed.

Time to look at my story history list and double check any I may have missed.

Not sure if this one was posted already. But, this is one of my earworms:

I enjoyed reading this. Wish fulfillment in several different ways. I can't speak for everyone, but it's a little bit of everything I wish everyone eventually gets a hold of, as dark and distant as it seems to be sometimes: love, redemption, unity, forgiveness, career growth...

It read like an episode of CSI fused with Perry Mason, along with a dash of Taking Lives. A solid mystery/thriller read.

Nice to know he decided to not follow orders and kill his lover. 🤣

I didn’t see him shift into a goddamn mosquito Elijah!” - I laughed for almost a solid minute. Kage the 'skeeter.🤣 I'm glad Tyler's been filled in on everything.