Agincourt

Thanks for the tip. It's rather a strange interlude of a chapter. A

I have corresponded with the author of "The Move" several times, and he always apologizes for the slowdown in postings. It sounds like he is still in school and has been pretty busy. He said that the last chapter posted actually sat about 80% finished on his computer for months, but for whatever reason he couldn't generate either the time or the mindset needed to get it finished until the end of the school year. A

You might want to talk to whatever support services WebTV has and see if there's some way they can assist a "mass migration" of your e-mails. You should also see whether WebTV will let you set up automatic forwarding of incoming mail to another account that you designate. I would suggest establishing a new account at GMail or Yahoo or wherever and announcing/posting that as your official contact address going forward, so at least the WebTV buildup will slow down. A

<tough-love font> You really, really need to move up to something more current than WebTV. </tough-love> A

A very happy birthday to you. A

I guess I assumed that Woody was so new to all of this that he never considered the possibility that there was a more private venue for what he was doing -- he may have assumed that this public chat area was his only option. I had the same concerns. It surprises me that Dewberry managed to carry out his type of activity as long as he did without detection. Presumably it was because the boys involved consented. Which raises the question, why did he suddenly turn to coercion in Woody's case? It was supremely risky for someone in his position. Was there any indication in the story that Woody was such an extraordinary "catch" that it would be worth the teacher throwing away his entire career and life as he knew it in order to pursue him? It's as though the guy went right off the deep end. Me too. As I mentioned originally, I think it shows much more range and depth than Ron's earlier stories, which is not to detract from them because I like them as well. A

The Nifty version of "Tree" is weeks behind the postings on the Mustard Jar site, where the story is finished. Maybe Woody kind of liked being seen by other people in the more public chat room . . . A

It's not finished, but the in-progress story The Move by Doug Smith is turning out to be quite a good yarn. A

When I checked the links just now they looked correct, but chapter 9 is here. If you end up at chapter 8 from his navigation page, just change the '8"' to a "9" in the address bar then press Enter. A The Cole Parker stories indexed here are all good. A

He's a very nice guy, and lives not too far from me.

As long as I'm mentioning stories, here's one that's very sweet: "Dinner for One" by Cole Parker. It's a short story and a fairly quick read. I won't say too much about it, other than to say (a) it's quite different from the usual internet fare, and ( you never know what you're going to discover when you visit a nice restaurant. A

As long as I'm on the subject, I thought I would mention the story "Door Number Three" by Ronyx. I think this is one I suggested to Comsie as a possible 5CBC selection, but it's also possible that I suggested "A Different Road" after he had initially proposed this one. I don't remember. Spoilers are likely in the discussion below, so be warned if you haven't read the story. This story has a number of elements that have become familiar in Ronyx stories, although the specifics are quite different and the overall story is far more complex than his earlier ones. Narrator/protagonist Zac Barnes is a high school senior. He is an avid track participant, running 100 m sprints. Across the street lives his classmate Kenny, who is a gifted baseball pitcher. The two boys have been best buds since early childhood. Kenny is good enough that he has a possible shot at a professional career. Zac is a good enough runner that he might have an Olympics shot. Zac has been dating classmate Rachel for two years, and to all appearances is "normal." Throughout this time Kenny often brags of his sexual activity with his girlfriend Alise, who is Rachel's best friend, and Kenny wants to see Zac get laid as well. Then Kenny introduces Zac to another athlete named Adrian. Adrian is also a senior, a popular athlete who played his final season of football in the fall and now plans to go out for baseball. Kenny recruits Adrian to be "his" catcher on the baseball team. Sparks fly between Zac and Adrian when they first meet, and Zac discovers feelings being awakened that he never acknowledged before. He is angry with himself for having such feelings. Zac's world falls apart when he finally has a chance to go all the way with Rachel, and can't perform. All he can think of is Adrian. Leading the charge of the forces of Zac's destruction, ironically, is Kenny, who is both racist and homophobic. Zac is quickly plunged into a fairly desperate situation. The story takes a number of twists and turns as Zac struggles to find his way through all of these challenges while maintaining the focus needed to do well in track. Karma shows up in a lot of the right places. Zac has to reach into the deepest parts of himself to handle what's happening to him, and even so it often seems as though that's not enough. In the mix we have a homophobic fire-and-brimstone preacher, parents who are supportive, parents who are assholes, students who are supportive, students who are assholes, and a volunteer coach who appears serendipitously and turns out to be a significant mentor to Zac. It is a brisk, fast-paced story that constantly surprises the reader. It's another one that I would recommend. A

This discussion is about A Different Road by Ronyx. While I don't think I am offering any spoilers, those who have not read the story should be warned. __________________ You ever had a best friend who was inseparable from you? Someone that if they got sick, you got sick, just so you could share their pain. Someone who you knew would come running if you needed a shoulder to cry on. Someone who would laugh at all your corny jokes. That was Brett. My inseparable other. Until yesterday. I don’t even know what happened. I didn’t even see it coming. One day we were best friends and lovers. Now he’s not even here to wipe away my tears. Tears that belong to him. Tears that have flooded from my heart, consumed my soul and now find their way to my eyes. He said he had to travel a different road. This one without me. He’s traveling a new road with someone else. Mine dead ends ahead. So begins this story, and the first five chapters flesh out the implications of this development. Somewhat like the beginning of the movie Sunset Boulevard, which opens with the image of writer Joe Gillis floating dead in a swimming pool and then flashes back to the events that led to this outcome, the initial chapters of "A Different Road" intercut scenes of the present with scenes of the past. We see Corey, the first-person narrator and protagonist, growing up with his best bud Brett. In their early (pre-teen) days they play around with a football, leading to Brett now being quarterback on the high school football team and Corey his star receiver. As Corey and Brett get older they start fooling around sexually, and Corey falls heavily in love with Brett. But this whole world falls apart after the episode described in the opening. There is other serious fallout in just about every aspect of his school and family life, as he suddenly comes to grips with things that apparently everyone else around him has seen for quite some time. He finds some interesting aliies along the way. I don't want to say anything more because of the risk of spoilers. The story is written in an economical, fast-paced style that moves things along quickly. Drama develops rapidly. A number of themes develop in this story that are echoed in other Ronyx stories. An excellent read in a total of 12 chapters. A

Hi gang -- I just wanted to give a quick shout-out for the story It's Not Easy Being A Tree by Ronyx. The final chapters were just posted today, so if you visit the above link, you can read the whole thing. I won't say too much about it because I don't want to spoil the story, but suffice it to say that the young protagonist finds out more than he ever wanted to know about the hazards of the internet, not to mention the challenges of being gay in a homophobic environment. The story has many remarkable twists and turns, and as I've said privately to Ron, the author, I believe it shows a lot more range than his previous stories. So if any of you find yourself at a loose end looking for an interesting story, this one will definitely serve your needs. A

Note sent. I hope he'll feel better and be back on track soon. A

I'm familiar with several of these, including the classic "Just Hit Send." Good choices. A

Heavens to Betsy -- I just noticed that new (and apparently concluding) chapters have been posted for this story. Now I'm really going to be curious to see where the story goes. A

Well, Charlie Brown always came back to kick the football while Lucy held it. A

It seemed to me as though the setup for what happened was pretty clear, and knowing that the overall anthology theme had to do with being "haunted" . . . well, maybe I have just watched too many Twilight Zone episodes or something. Somehow I could see that the narrator was getting sucked into something that he might have second thoughts about, especially when the guy on the screen was seen smirking. So, now the narrator is trapped in this world of perpetual sexual gratification? Could be worse, I suppose. And it sounds like what he needs to do is find a new web visitor who is turned on enough by the porn content to take his place eventually. It will be the narrator's turn to smirk in due course. I could imagine some interesting stories where, instead of being swept into the web scene, the porn visitor literally became possessed while continuing to live in the outside world. Imagine what would happen if the web "demon" had a handful of possessed minions to do various deeds in the outside world . . . A

This is just a very brief word on this last story in the current 5CBC series, "Laika" by EleCivil, found here. I doubt if there are any spoilers here, but I should make the customary warning that there might be. The story centers on the experiences of the 15-year-old first-person narrator, Brandon Collier, as he encounters a remarkable series of events and people that test his self-image and his sexuality. What distinguishes the story is its level of wit. All of the principal characters, including Brandon's older brother Mark and a brainy friend nicknamed "Dixie" (short for "Dictionary," a result of her prowess at winning Spelling Bee competitions), seem to have an endless supply of banter and snappy responses suitable for every occasion that they find themselves in. It's very sitcom-like, and while it's certainly unrealistic to think that you'd ever find something like this in real life, it's quite entertaining. The chapters are well-written and go through some fairly familiar story territory, on the one hand, with some rather unusual and even absurd twists, on the other. Older brother Mark, for example, seems to specialize in being unconventional and off-the-wall while not being entirely off-putting. You kind of find yourself suspending skepticism and disbelief to fall into this rather warped but interesting world. In some ways it all reminds me of stories by J.J. Janicki, although I think any direct comparison would be stretching things. For one thing, the characters in this story are far more bold and fearless in embarking on strange "missions" than Janicki's characters tend to be. In sum, the story is very well-written, literate, and witty, and so far seems entertaining in its quirky way. A

May your stockings be filled with joy and Christmas cheer. A

Never mind. It really looks like no one else is interested in this project. I doubt if I will post anything on the last story in the current schedule. No one else is posting, and virtually no one even comments on my posts. It seems like a waste of effort. A

I have left a message there describing my experience today. A

I ended up having to break my post into two parts, and putting the second part in a "reply" to the first post. I wasted more than an hour fighting with the software. I have no idea where to report technical issues here. Hopefully someone who knows will speak up to the right people. A

[continued from earlier post] At the end of Chapter 4. it seems that Eli has finally recognized that Chris is not the boyfriend that he believed him to be, and that Devon is someone that really could be a true soulmate. He and Devon share a timid and tentative kiss, that seems to make both of them nervous. Under other circumstances it would be incredibly cute to watch, but the reader cannot help but anticipate all manner of trouble ahead, as Eli is clearly not equipped to handle the situation he finds himself in -- he doesn't know how to break things off with Chris, although he now realizes he must; and he shows every sign of falling into an even deeper and unseeing infatuation with Devon than he did with Chris. In other words, it's as though he can't learn from experience that his intrinsic emotional nature is bound to get him into trouble again and again. Devon, in the meantime, feels guilty about the possibility that he may be driving a wedge between Eli and Chris. We are left with this somewhat foreboding thought: Somehow, we just know that this will not be pretty. I have to confess that continuing this story would be difficult for me. I am assuming that it is not considered complete, but there is an argument for ending it where it is. The path ahead seems to be fairly clear. As mentioned above, I fully expect that it is only a matter of time before Eli comes upon Chris in bed with someone else. That, in a way, would make Eli's job of breaking up much easier. Everything we've seen points to the wisdom of breaking up with Chris and developing a relationship with Devon. But on the whole I'm not sure how much dramatic tension is left in the story at this point, if that's the direction it chooses to go. Far more interesting, if somewhat implausible, would be a story line in which we discover that Chris really has more feelings for Eli than we give him credit for. In that scenario, Eli wouldn't find Chris in bed with someone else; rather, on the day when Eli had made up his mind to break things off with Chris, he would arrive home to discover that Chris had arranged a whole romantic dinner and evening for the two of them, uncharacteristically tying into everything the Eli values the most. That would really put Eli in a pickle. On the whole, though, it certainly seems, from all the evidence we've seen, that Eli would be much better off with Devon. It's kind of like the choice confronting Zac in Door Number Three, where he must decide among different relationship paths, all of which carry risks and uncertainties. The difference is that Zac seems to be able to muster the emotional maturity to recognize the nature of the choice he's making. Such emotional maturity seems to be lacking in Eli, and we can't help but fear that he will be wounded again. It would be tremendously rewarding if Eli could find a way to triumph over the circumstances he is presented with, unlikely as that seems right now. A [NOTE: I spent more than an hour trying to post this review. It required posting paragraph by paragraph, using the edit function, and then I still ran into the obnoxious error message "You must add a post" when I reached the point where this reply begins. I'm not sure what's going on with the forum software, but it is highly obnoxious.]