Former Member

Or Japan! ;-)

When I saw that the Prompt was a person with a tail, I was thinking Rat Tail, the underdeveloped and even dumber version of the male ponytail! ;-) I’m still trying to understand why a person with a tail would want to wear a cat’s ears headband. When I was Sam’s age, my parents would never have given in to a request like that! Money was even tighter for my family than for Sam’s family. Even if I had wanted something like that, they’d never have purchased something so idiosyncratic and (in their words) “wasteful.” Of course, my parents became much more indulgent of their grandchildren! ;-)

Happy Birthday! At least Robbie was released from his incarceration in time to watch your Birthday Fireworks Show over the lake with Nathan! ;-)

I was expecting to find out that the huggy/kissy woman with Nate was his Lesbian cousin! ;-)

@jkwsquirrel says he has W.A.R. 6 planned, but I’ve asked him about W.A.R. 8, W.A.R. 10, W.A.R. 20, W.A.R. 30, W.A.R. 40, and W.A.R. 50! @mogwhy has only suggested a single sequel! ;-)

And the writer got out of a long involved and convoluted, but innocent explanation by having Jake actually do what he looked like he was doing. Jake seemed like the perfect guy up until that point. Many of us would have found this flaw to be fatal, but apparently not Kaiden. Reece was smart enough to avoid getting pulled into a rebound disaster. ;-)

I think both Jase and Joseph were playing matchmaker! ;-) But my suburban impression was that non-Gay rodeo fans weren’t the most socially progressive demographic around. I would have expected at least a few snide comments or dirty looks aimed at the slightly-too-intimate-for-straight-men interactions. My impression was that they weren’t likely to keep their opinions to themselves…

"My typewriter had turned mute as a tomb And my piano crouched in the corner of my roomWith all its teeth bared." ~ Warren Ellis & Nick Cave

Wesley the character in this story, as opposed to @Wesley8890, pretty much had his fifteen minutes of fame in just that one scene. I believe he was an RA from the dorm the guys used to live in. Nan is probably the only reason he might make a return appearance – she’s such a cougar! ;-)

It took me a few sentences to remember the story. I need more frequent updates to keep me from forgetting what’s going on in this story! Even if I only read @Bndmetl, @Wesley8890, and your stories, I’d still be Following too many stories to remember more than two weeks between chapters! ;-) Caleb certainly is a bundle of energy! ;-)

I’m glad you were able to find your muse again, @craftingmom!

I’m the antithesis of an athlete! ;-) I have always been uncoordinated and have never been strong. I high school gym class, while playing round-robin paddleball, my best friend and I always lost very quickly. Several of us losing teams would do things like attempt to throw the ball against the back wall of the court with our ‘wrong hand’. When it was my turn, the ball would bounce several times before even reaching the wall! In all the times I was forced to play softball, baseball, and over the line (I grew up mostly in San Diego), I never managed to hit the ball and I never managed to catch a ball either. In football, I was never able to prevent rushers from getting past me, but on the other hand, I was never able to get past the blockers. Being the center of attention makes me very anxious and nervous. I hate it when people are all looking at me! I’m much more comfortable observing others (as long as they’re not pointlessly running around a field or court). ;-)

I love how Bailey was feeling so insecure about Declan texting, ‘Yeah. But I'm heading out to ogle a hot guy for a few hours first’ and was so shocked when he found out that Declan was referring to him! ;-) I’m glad Declan is realizing that others might also appreciate the kind of support of fans that he always took for granted. The only game that I ever attended when I was in high school was a Girl’s Field Hockey game that a friend was playing in. I never attended any of the other numerous sports that my school played.

Yes, but he probably could have done a much better job of keeping them inaccessible! It’s not like she was stealing his clean underwear out of his dresser drawers! And it certainly wasn’t a family secret that she was doing that – many of his friends (male and female) witnessed her indiscretions… ;-)

In addition to his shoes, my younger brother’s dog had the much more embarrassing habit of stealing his white Jockey brand briefs. Calvin Klein briefs were inspired, in part, by those Jockey shorts. I’m sure everyone remembers the iconic images of Mark Walberg wearing white Calvin Klien briefs!

Things are usually more subtle than book burning these days. Usually, in the cause of ‘protecting children’s innocent minds’ (they haven’t met the same kids I have!), they just restrict access or remove books from reading lists, one library or school at a time. If you do it quietly enough, no one notices what you’ve done and ‘controversial’ subjects like LGBTQ, non-christian religions, uncomfortable topics (like genocides committed by your country, civil wars that your side lost, leaders who have done things that are now illegal, etc), and other disruptive things just disappear! Librarians and booksellers are typically very opposed to censorship. They maintain lists of banned books and the last week in September is devoted to highlighting the issue. This is a list of the most commonly challenged books in the US – note how often LGBTQ is the reason for the challenge (and be aware that LGBTQ is the unstated reason for others). I was required to read at least four of the books on the challenged list for English classes (that was more than four decades ago!).

Loved the chapter. Surprised, but proud, to find Robbie coming out of the closet. I have a feeling that this upcoming dinner won't be an entirely peaceful affair. I don't think that Nathan's parents realise just how bigoted Don is, and how ineffective Sue is. They're in for an awakening, methinks. Thanks once again, @Dodger

I think this is my favourite chapter, so far. It's so refreshing to see Tyler being so 'normal' having a good time with nice friends. He also got to see his boyfriend and his best friend. Things are starting to turn around.

At least they survived the ‘trickier’ set of parents first! Cody’s should be easy after that! (Too many stories, too many names – I can't remember a Theo or Tim at all right now!) ;-)

It’s like everyone’s reaction to the inside of the Tardis on Doctor Who (‘it’s bigger on the inside than the outside!’). And, very similar to the spin everyone does when they first see the inside of Colin & Devon’s grand home! No one ever does that in my little studio apartment (one glance and you see it all)! ;-)

You’ve had crossovers before and Makarovia has all those mines! The Old Ones would have plenty of places to hide. And Makarovians would take care of relatives who were turned into vampires because they are an accepting people. Makarovians wouldn’t panic the way others do in the various countries your characters have visited. ;-)

Besides all the stories here about the straight guy who falls for just the right guy can’t all be fantasies, can they? ;-)

New underwear was part of my donation last year, but I couldn’t afford to buy more than 6 packages of men’s boxers in S-XXXL, so I asked that they only be given out if/when someone really needed it – many of the donations are split up and distributed all at once. The agency I donate to was one I started using when I was homeless and would still be except their selection for psychological therapy intern decided not to accept their offer at the point when she was supposed to begin. I will probably return to them in July when they get a new intern. And while many of the policies and practices of the rescue mission bother me, I did go back to thank them in person. I had to use their services many times over a two year period and they never turned me away – I made very sure to follow their restrictions for time between stays before I tried to return. And I did meet some nice people while I was there, some who worked for the mission, some who were in their program, some who volunteered there, and some who were staying there just like I was (I still see some of them five years after I last stayed at the mission). ;-)

I forgot to mention that when I was there to serve Thanksgiving dinner, I also dropped off my annual holiday donation. I’ve donated all sorts of different things over the years, but the time I decided I donate the same item that I use myself: same type and same size – no sample sizes! I use unscented Tom’s of Maine Deodorant. They use natural ingredients with no animal testing. It doesn’t contain aluminum, so it doesn’t stain undershirts with those nasty brown patches. I’ve also been told it’s better not to smear aluminum on your body in any case! I decided that some of the clients might not understand the difference between a plain deodorant and an antiperspirant deodorant, so I printed up a sheet of return address label stock with a notation that mentioned they wouldn’t stink, but they might get sticky (each stick got the label attached before I dropped them off). ;-)

Not many people want a scary clown at their parties! ;-) This, of course, is a reference to @Wesley8890’s previous use of Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise the Dancing Clown) as his avatar. This has nothing at all to do with his own personality at all. Wesley is only scary if you get between him and Benny! ;-)