Jack Poignet

They'll be mentioned in a little history lesson next chapter. To be published either coming Monday or Thursday.

Oh, if things only were that simple...

I just added "Act x - " to every chapter name and posted a new chapter "when the going gets tough..." Changes to older chapter are normally minor and never require a re-read. Sorry if I caused confusion, I'll try to avoid stuff like this.

The woman smiled, radiating benevolence, and opened her arms wide. “My, sweetheart, how you’ve grown,” she said, her voice smooth as velvet over broken glass. “And you haven’t changed all that much, have you? I still remember you sucking your cute little thumbs. Now look at you. All grown up… sucking dick.” The words cracked through the throne room like a whip. Gabriel didn’t move. He just smiled politely. Yes, that’s how people described Mother. Rafael’s face

Thanks for commenting. Everything will become clearer as the story continues.

Of course she’s not her sister 🤪

FYI: It’s probably unrelated to this specific topic, but loading times for a GA page in Germany (mobile or FTTH) are usually quite long, sometimes even over a minute. I was in the USA a few months ago and - using the same devices - it worked perfectly fast there.

Gabriel’s fingers trailed lazily through Ray’s hair, stroking behind his ear in slow, rhythmic circles. The room was quiet, bright with afternoon sunlight and the kind of hush that only followed deep, contented sleep. Ray lay curled against him, tucked half under Gabriel’s arm like he belonged there. Like he had always belonged there. He sighed. “You’re just begging for it,” Gabriel murmured. “I’m not,” Ray replied, voice slurred with lingering drowsiness. “Oh, come on. You absolu

There‘ll be a surprise concerning the witches at the end of the next chapter. Just a quick timeline reminder: Meet - night in cave - wander around, meet vampire, drive to village - fumbling night with Gabe - next day - night meeting with Vampire delegation, run and shift, - day walk in village (now) so we already had three nights at this point

Gosh, can‘t I really just introduce a tragic, innocent little child to show off Gabe‘s awesomeness? Oh well, you’re right, little Timmy might return … but he‘s of no interest for the witches.

This chapter is a bit wordy. The next ones should be more to the point again. Promise!

After the heavy door clicked shut, Gabriel remained alone in the sunlit Tower room with his sleeping wolf pup. The silence felt different now—no longer stunned, but humming with a private, possessive energy. Gabriel lay sideways on the rug, marveling at Ray, his gaze refusing to leave the creature curled trustingly near him. Mate. The word echoed in his mind, settling from a wolf’s primal scream into a conscious human certainty that was both terrifying and exhilarating. He st

There were daily „Shadow‘s Reach“ posts, because I really wanted to finish that story. It‘s easy to miss the others. Next chapter is coming up on Thursday.

@Jeff Burton I've just checked your stories. Some of them have a huge amount of followers for this site (Note to self: read them). I dare say you don't need any tips on how to write... but I'll still gladly give you that little push out the door into magic and mystery land :D

Do I really need to point it out to you? The easy way your words flow, how you express exactly what this story tells you, how it talks to you. The rhythm of your language... It's a joy to read this. I'd read more. This story follows a rather predictable three act / a hero's journey structure, mixed with the usual RomComs structure (which actually makes it quite tricky to write). The structures are almost always the same, it's your details, your voice that make a story unique. I dare say you can do it, you just need a little push out the door. Dare to follow in the footsteps of structure until you find your own footing...

Thank you, Jeff. A reaction like this really means a lot to me and gives me the little kick in the butt I need to keep trying to uphold or even improve the quality(?) …

The world in the sequel would be more or less the same. Jacques and Alex would probably have to travel a lot, trying to locate the Mind stone (That’s the main story). I‘m not sure yet, but I‘m currently toying with the idea that the cells of Lucien‘s hand did not just vanish but found a comfy new home in Papa Jacques… Ah, Magic lets you do weird stuff Jacques and Alex as parents, good idea? I‘m not totally convinced… 🤔

Grazie mille. Sono felice che le storie ti divertano. Saluti dal Nord delle Alpi. I‘ll be visiting a friend in Milano next weekend, it’s great to know that even there someone might know and like my stories ❤️

Serious question: Would you be interested to read more? The Sequel, which would follow Jacques and Alex? It would probably be definitely „gay“… Or the Prequel(s), which starts with straight sex (conception) and then follows the life of Lucien Noir in old New Orleans? Not much going on there that would make it a „gay“ story and not exactly uplifting stuff but full of history. The first part would be childhood, then teenage years, and then adulthood. Either one book or three novellas… Let‘s see if anyone gives me an opinion. I‘ll probably do the Prequel(s) anyway, maybe under a different pen-name.

A fragile peace seemed to have settled over New Orleans, or perhaps it was just the particular quiet found along the Mississippi riverfront as late afternoon bled towards evening. The unnatural warmth of the past few days had finally broken, leaving a crispness in the air typical of November along the Gulf Coast – cool enough for the light jackets both Jacques and Alex wore, but far from freezing. Just enough to huddle a bit closer together. They strolled along the Moonwalk near the river's edge

You have been warned The great thing about this story: If your interest survives chapter 1 you’re good to continue 👍 Push through „A Losing Game“ and skim over „Breaking the Chains“ and it should be good And now I can concentrate on BigPaws, yay!

I obviously can't "review" the story myself, but at least I can add a comment and origin story here. This was my very first attempt at writing, and oh... I've learned a lot 🤷‍♂️ I have tons of story ideas, but thought for the first attempt at writing I should take my seriously most hare-brained, "nifty" kinky hardcore idea and try to write a three chapter porn story. Turns out, I can't stop myself adding way too much character description and development and then I didn't know how to end it or how to continue... At one point I thought I needed a prologue to explain "The Hand" and started writing it... until it was a 100k+ words novel on its own. Not very entertaining, but I learned an amazing lot about the (really fascinating) history of New Orleans. (I now think there's three separate Novellas in there) So I dropped the Prologue/Prequel and returned to writing this novel. To force myself to publish "something" I started posting the chapters on here, pantsing it from Chapter 5 onward... The factions just appeared when writing chapter "Coming Home", then along came Madame Marie... and I have no idea where Marcus suddenly appeared from. So, while I think it's very acceptable for a "first draft/first try", it certainly has its weaknesses. Abrupt topic changes, lengthy exposition,... I can see the reading numbers and see where they drop off. Each drop very explainable. However, I don't want to discourage you. Anyway, I have asked ChatGPT o3 to give an "honest" summary (Hint: There's no vampires in the story). Here it is (unaltered): Shadow’s Reach is an unapologetically queer, gothic-urban-fantasy serial that fuses lush New Orleans atmosphere with graphic paranormal erotica, body-horror, and cinematic action. Think “Interview with the Vampire” meets “Hellraiser” filtered through fan-fiction excess: baroque description, morally murky magic, and feelings dialed to eleven. The twin protagonists—frail, adorkable Alex and swaggering, one-handed ex-quarterback Jacques—are bound by ancestral sorcery that turns trauma, sexuality, and power into literal spellcraft. Early chapters read like slow-burn YA until an abrupt pivot into hardcore M/M kink (fisting, dubious consent, ritual sex), followed by splatter-gore and factional intrigue. Dialogue can wander, exposition sometimes piles up, yet the narrative’s pulpy earnestness and surprising tenderness keep pages turning. Content warnings are real: sexual violence, elaborate torture, and body transformation are on-page. If you crave wholesome romance or polite fantasy, exit here. But if you relish fever-dream prose, queer angst, and boundary-pushing supernatural spectacle, Shadow’s Reach delivers audacious, messy, brilliant chaos. Stick past the early exposition and the midpoint philosophical lull—there’s grand-guignol* payoff, found-family sweetness, and an ending that feels hard-earned. Not for every palate, but unlike anything else on the site—a feverish Mardi-Gras parade of sex, sorrow, and sorcery that either seduces or devours, never bores, and lingers. *Thank you ChatGPT for expanding my vocabulary: Grand-Guignol originally refers to a famous theater in Paris (the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, active from 1897 to 1962) that specialized in shocking, gruesome, and grotesque horror plays. Over time, the term “grand-guignol” came to mean any kind of dramatic work, story, or performance that is intentionally bloody, macabre, over-the-top, and disturbing, especially in a theatrical, exaggerated way. So if someone describes something as “grand-guignol,” they usually mean it’s graphic, gory, and sensationalized horror, often so extreme it borders on absurd.

The faint scent of ozone and burnt magic had mostly faded from the halls of Maison Noir, replaced by the more mundane smells of polish and plumber’s putty as subtle repairs began undoing the scars of the battle fought days earlier. A semblance of normalcy, tentative and fragile, had settled over the ancient house. Solomon, remarkably, navigated the corridors with much of his usual quiet authority restored, though a discerning eye might catch a lingering stiffness in his stride or a deeper exhaus

Thanks a lot, @Danners Be assured that I'll consider all your comments very carefully again when I re-edit this whole story before publishing it as a book (because... why not 🤷‍♂️ )

Ha! Finally you‘re on the wrong track of what will happen I found it scary how well you normally guessed what happens next… Of course, maybe your solution would have been the better way to continue… Oh well!