Glad I was able to offer affirmation for your insightful comments and story. I hope others are also offering support.
I understand your caution about exposing deeply personal emotions even in the context of fiction, much less straightforward commentary. (In an incautious moment, I came out in a public television interview. I'm not sure whether I or the interviewer was more shocked !🙄 Fortunately neither he nor I suffered any significant negative kickback -- and ultimately it has proved a liberating accident.)
I hope I am quite sincere -- I certainly mean to be.
You're right about it's being a too rare quality now a days, and one often abused, especially on such platforms as this -- a good reason for caution, especially when it comes to exposing one’s vulnerabilities.
I generally only respond to posts relating to the hideous state of U.S. politics, and to interesting posts on the fine arts, but something in yours suggested a sincerity, yet diffidence, that seemed to invite an encouraging response.
So I sincerely hope I have not been intruding on your mental or emotional space. If so, I ask pardon.
Please don’t worry — you have not intruded at all.
On the contrary — it genuinely moved me to encounter someone who speaks with such sincerity. It is sadly rare, and your presence here has been anything but unwelcome.
In a space where openness can so easily be exploited, finding someone who responds with honesty rather than performance is a quiet relief — even a kind of hope.
Don't feel any need to apologize for, or justify, the deeply sensitive revelation of your honest feelings and the self discovery you express through the "I" in this section of your story. Based on earlier comments, I sensed an honest part of you rising to earnest expression, with which I readily identify.
Also, you write well -- far better than most of the hackneyed "gay romances" whose formulaistic pattern is both artificial, and invariably disappointing.
So glad I accidentally stumbled onto your channel. Thanks for your honesty and sensitivity. They are refreshing.
Hidden Flames · Chapter VII
Dawn — veranda — arrival into a place beyond fear.
I know that in Chapter Seven I did not simply share a story —
I exposed a layer of myself that no one has seen this closely before.
And perhaps it was this nearness that not everyone was ready to receive.
I blame no one for that — silence is also a response.
But I had to write it, because something in it no longer wished to wait.
I am not asking for explanation or reaction —
only opening a door.
For whoever one day feels ready to step through it.
Glad I was able to offer affirmation for your insightful comments and story. I hope others are also offering support.
I understand your caution about exposing deeply personal emotions even in the context of fiction, much less straightforward commentary. (In an incautious moment, I came out in a public television interview. I'm not sure whether I or the interviewer was more shocked !🙄 Fortunately neither he nor I suffered any significant negative kickback -- and ultimately it has proved a liberating accident.)
Heartfelt best wishes!!
Thank you for sharing that — truly.
I can imagine how intense that moment must have been, especially when exposure isn’t planned but simply happens.
And it’s strangely comforting to hear that what could have gone wrong turned instead into freedom.
I still move carefully in these spaces — but messages like yours remind me that honesty can lead to connection, not danger.
And that makes a real difference.
Grateful — not just for your support, but for your humanity.
Yes : you are right about "humanity".
To this I would add Compassion and Empathy -- especially attractive qualities I've seen in your comments. Thanks for your insights.
Thank you — deeply.
Humanity without compassion is only a shell —
and it means a lot that you felt those qualities in my words.
Your attention feels sincere — and that is rare.
I hope I am quite sincere -- I certainly mean to be.
You're right about it's being a too rare quality now a days, and one often abused, especially on such platforms as this -- a good reason for caution, especially when it comes to exposing one’s vulnerabilities.
I generally only respond to posts relating to the hideous state of U.S. politics, and to interesting posts on the fine arts, but something in yours suggested a sincerity, yet diffidence, that seemed to invite an encouraging response.
So I sincerely hope I have not been intruding on your mental or emotional space. If so, I ask pardon.
Please don’t worry — you have not intruded at all.
On the contrary — it genuinely moved me to encounter someone who speaks with such sincerity. It is sadly rare, and your presence here has been anything but unwelcome.
In a space where openness can so easily be exploited, finding someone who responds with honesty rather than performance is a quiet relief — even a kind of hope.
I’m truly grateful you chose to speak.
Don't feel any need to apologize for, or justify, the deeply sensitive revelation of your honest feelings and the self discovery you express through the "I" in this section of your story. Based on earlier comments, I sensed an honest part of you rising to earnest expression, with which I readily identify.
Also, you write well -- far better than most of the hackneyed "gay romances" whose formulaistic pattern is both artificial, and invariably disappointing.
So glad I accidentally stumbled onto your channel. Thanks for your honesty and sensitivity. They are refreshing.
Thank you — deeply.
Your words reach me in a moment where honesty felt both necessary and uncertain.
I shared something unguarded, not knowing if anyone would choose to meet me there — and the fact that you did means more than I can easily express.
It matters to be seen without being judged.
I’m grateful you are here — truly.