Black Star Cross

For the last time, sorry this is a couple hours late (not that most of you care, since I'm the only one that seems to live in my respective time zone). To Lisa, I asked julianYES about the story; got no reply. And no, you will not know who sent the note and rose, because I'm sadistic like that. May it torment your thoughts forevermore. No PAN this time, for obvious reasons. If you all leave an email address in your reviews, since I obviously can't answer them in another chapter, I can email you personally to answer any questions you have about the story. By the time you read this, hopefully my profile page and the story's summary will have been changed, so read those as well. It's been fun! Enjoy...well...whatever this is!

Black Star Cross

Epilogue

Shawn and Anthony did end up going to the same college, located about half an hour away from where they lived. They opted to share an apartment room together. Of course, neither of them had the money to pay for the rent, so loans had to be made. Still, it was better than living in a dorm room, or continuing to live at home with their mothers.

Shawn and his mom never did reconcile. To this day, there is a notable tension between the two. Shawn has tried to keep the communication between the two of them down to a bare minimum. Obviously, Shawn’s mother was, and still is, not pleased with this, but has accepted that this is probably how it’s going to be for awhile. Shawn still makes attempts to talk to Kimberly every once in awhile. His major is Undecided.

Anthony slowly started coming to grips about being in a relationship with another “dude.” Once Shawn informed him that, in college, no one knows or cares about who you were in high school, Anthony slowly started becoming more at ease with openly showing affection in public. So far, this has displayed itself as hand holding in public, and acknowledging (albeit as a murmur that’s barely audible) that he is dating Shawn. Actual dates are becoming more common now as well. He is majoring in Sports Management, which is what all dumb jocks major in while in college. Both he and Shawn are practicing how not to waddle the day after bottoming the other.

Keith went on to continue to sleep with anyone with a clitoris, pulse, and stands on two feet. The notches on his bed could be considered an intended pattern made during manufacturing by now. During the following February, he noticed bumps on his penis. Scared for his life, he rushed to the doctor’s office. It was there that he found that his latest sexual conquest had given him chlamydia.

Of course, Keith had not used any protection. His sexual practices included only having sex during times where a woman is least likely to get pregnant, which was pretty much during a certain time during her period. Still, no pregnancy does not equal no infection, and that is exactly what Keith got. Scared that he was going to die, he promptly freaked out until the doctor informed him that chlamydia was curable. However, due to his STD scare, Keith was practically scarred for life. He swore off sex until he found someone he would want to marry. It remains to be seen if he will keep that promise. His major was originally psychology, but upon realizing that he doesn’t want to help people, decided to change to a marketing major.

Brett moved. Brett moved far, far away. How far? Very far. Brett moved to a campus where no one would know him. Brett is studying to become an architect. He does not play on any of the sports teams the campus has there. Almost immediately upon entering college, he met a nice young redhead nerd with an awesome rack, female of course, and they’ve been dating ever since.

No one cares about Liz or Wes, and Peter Lamb is in New York City now, which is where all gays go to look for work, or so it is told. Not that anyone cares about him either.

Aunt Emmy continued to bake more cookies. Such a nice, old lady.

The End...again.
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So here is where I make my long-winded monologue, appropriate for the ending of what was a three-year project for me. Hopefully, this will be long enough that this entire chapter will be on par lengthwise to previous chapters.

I made Black Star Cross to specifically counter traditional stereotypes and cliches I found pervading a vast majority of gay stories, written by both men and women. Why does the bottom always have to be nothing more than a female with a penis? Why does there even have to be a top/bottom dichotomy? Why do the parents always have to know that the character is gay by the end of the book, even though in real life, many parents don’t find out until their child is in their 30s or 40s or later, if at all? I wanted to counter all of this, and show what it’d be like if these kinds of stories were written with a little more realistic sensibility to them. This is not to say that ALL gay stories are written horribly. Not by a long shot. I have read many wonderfully written stories that leave me on the edge of my seat, waiting for next week’s chapter. But these are few and far in-between.

What most people probably do not know (or have forgotten, in case I already said it before), is that BSC is written for a gay male audience, not a straight female one. The reason why I posted the story here is because no one else with good credentials would take my story (blame Chapter 17, a.k.a. The Nightmare Chapter). Speaking of that chapter, I just want to let everyone know that the purpose of that chapter was not to solely scare you all, believe it or not. What its true purpose is, is something you’ll have to figure out on your own.

That’s another thing. I wanted my readers to think. This is why so many scenes were left vague. I wanted YOU to fill in the blanks. They may be what I was thinking, they may not be. It’s more fun this way, I feel. As I’ve stated many times before, characters’ physical descriptions were left vague so that the reader could mentally make them as hot, or not as hot, as they wanted. I’ve read many stories before and thought to myself “Black? Ew. Okay, from now on, they’re all White in my mind.” I think I just gave out my ethnicity.

I wanted to make Shawn an unlikeable character. Somehow, you all thought he was awesome and a saint. There were a few exceptions out there, and I am pleased that some people caught on. I was absolutely bewildered when people kept siding with Shawn, even though most of the problems in the story result from him being a jerk. “How can you like this guy? Look at what he does to other people, and how he thinks about other people! He’s worse than Anthony! Why are you glorifying him?” Nevertheless, people kept reading, and that, I guess, is good enough for me. And finally, no, Shawn is not me. None (okay, very little) of the events in the story are based off of any real life experiences that I’ve had. None of the major ones, anyway.

Fun facts. I originally did not want ANY coming out scenes in the story. That would be too stereotypical. Does EVERY gay story need a coming out scene? I wanted no one to know about Shawn and Anthony. However, as the story progressed, and I became used to having people read my work, and I started developing a desire to please my fanbase, I started looking at my work more like a soap opera or television show than a written novel. To create suspense and temporary angst, I had Keith figure it out all on his own. And then, to add in my signature twist, I immediately had another minor character figure it out in the next chapter. Back-to-back outings! Fun for all!

More fun facts. Writing sex scenes is HARD! Every time I tried to write one, Shawn and Anthony would steadfastly refuse to do anything, so I had to use my authorly influence and practically force them to get it on. There were many plots I wanted to do, but the characters write the story, not me. They acted in ways I did not predict and made many plots inaccessible after awhile. So blame them.

So now is where I give thanks. Thanks to every single one of you who has read the story since the very beginning. Thanks to all who have rated the story with a perfect five, or even a four, which shows that you’re thinking! Thanks to all who have written reviews, and more thanks to those that wrote constructive reviews that amounted to more than “Good job. I like. Update soon.” To people who only read and not write, trust me, these kinds of reviews do more to the author than you think they do.

What? You want names? Fine. A big thanks goes to madlodger, who only reviews the best of the best. Receiving your first review did wonders for my self-esteem. It made me feel like what I was writing was actually good, if not beyond average. A hearty thanks goes to Blue Rose, whom I address to my friends as “my token male reader.” Thanks for showing me that there are penises out there on AFF, especially belonging to those who read slash. A jubilant thanks goes to Anonymous Sister of the Author. Rest assured, your number has been upgraded to two. A super, extra-special thanks goes to Kuromei, whom was the first real person I befriended on AFF, and one of my longest readers, who has, in fact, read everything I’ve written, including my Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic. So a round of an applause to Kuromei! Do it!

And now this is where I announce future projects. By the time you read this, I shall have a brand spanking new PWP done (with 23% more spank than the next leading brand!)! I’ve wrestled with the idea of casting, and I’ve decided to use Blue Rose and ASOTA...I mean, I’ve decided to use Lucas and T.J. again. I can see you all wincing right now. Don’t worry. It won’t be as dirty as Dirty Lay was. There will be some sort of a twist in there, but I’ll try to be much cleaner this time around. I’ll have it up sometime mid-August, hopefully before I move into my new apartment (just to space out my greatness). The title for now is "Wake Up Call with Manhattan," unless I change it later on, and will be in the Erotica section of AFF.

****UPDATED 1/24/10****

So originally, I said that I'd be working on "A BRAND NEW STORY" that was not just another slash story, and had to do with vampires, werewolves, harpies, and stuff like that. A basic Van Helsing rip-off. Well, I decided to pretty much abandon that series, at least temporarily, if not entirely. Yes yes, I know, that's a horrible and horribly cliched thing for me to do. BUT FEAR NOT! For I HAVE been working on YET ANOTHER BRAND NEW STORY (two of them, in fact) in my spare time. Jubilations! And for some (most) of you, more good news! Both will, once again, be in the slash genre! Exuberance! I don't know WHEN the stories will be up though; I DO know that it won't be for a few more months. Sorry. Gotta get a good stockpile going before releasing stuff. The second story is currently top-secret, so no hints from me.

The first story, as previously noted, will be slash-related, but will also incorporate many more genres, such as horror, sci-fi, humor, and action. Actually...I think those are it, as far as genres go. TRANSITION! I can't give away TOO much of the plot, but I can state this: watch Pleasantville. Oh, and the main character's name is Penisfingers Insertinbut...or is it?

I will do what I did with BSC and write several dozen chapters before I start posting them. As such, if you do not read my PWP, then this will be the last you hear from me for at least a year or two. Yes, that is a sad thought, but we must all face harsh reality now and then. By this time next year, I’ll be working full-time, so my free time will be non-existent, slowing all production to a halt, putting Kuromei to shame *dodges sniper bullet*.

And so, to those of you whom will never read anything from me ever again, thank you so much for at least reading this story (and this incredibly long-winded epilogue). To those of you who will read my future works, again, thank you for supporting me and this story. It’s practically my life work. And to think, writing isn’t even my career path. Alas, such a waste. Anyways, I’ll see you all either when the PWP comes out or when the new story does. So on that lovely note, thank you and take care...dude.

~Young Sage