33 Comments
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Emily S Hurricane's avatar

Oh you’re gonna leave it right there 😱😱 aaaaa!! This was so intense!!

Also Gwen DOESNT KNOW 😱😱

MA Knight's avatar

IM NOT SAYING A WORD 🤐

Tom Schecter's avatar

Goddamnit that’s a GREAT way to end a chapter

MA Knight's avatar

Couldn’t miss that opportunity

Walt Shuler's avatar

WHAT?!?! Aaaaaaahhhhh! Man, what a damn cliffhanger. Great freaking job with the tension here.

MA Knight's avatar

Hehe thank you walt! Was very fun to write

Rosie B's avatar

OMG reading this chapter with my hands over my eyes!

MA Knight's avatar

Ahhh! It’s a tense one. Thank you, Rosie

Helen Grover's avatar

“I miss it. The song was more sympathetic than this silence. The back of my legs are shivering, making my ass twitch. Maybe I should get back in the car.”

This section was very evocative. Your choice of sensory details was funny but effective. It’s hard to do both and maintain tension. It also served as a great transition between the way Bianca’s inner monologue under cut tension with humor before the reality of the danger in the Dyer household, and the way it becomes more externally focused when she was in the house. Even when the focus is more internal the tone changes significantly. Like in this line.

“And Sheriff doesn’t strike me as a hero.”

I appreciate the way you hit the beats with this chapter. There’s some subtle gothic influence (intentional or not) that I like. Rich people with secrets and a dungeon etc

MA Knight's avatar

Thank you for this thoughtful comment! The gothic elements are definitely intentional, the tonal stuff play by ear and hope for the best! I’m glad it seems to be communicating what I want too 🩷

Nav Rao's avatar

Brilliant! By the way, those that do CrossFit very often smell like wet dog after a session.

MA Knight's avatar

Thank you! And yes… that tracks. I’ve never done it, but everyone in there looks scary. Why are they moving giant tires like that? What’s up with the religious vibe?

Nav Rao's avatar

The tire is a symbol of our constant struggle to be loved. By moving the tire, we show that while love is heavy, we can still move it away from us and find peace in never having to see it again.

MA Knight's avatar

See? There’s the religious stuff I was talking about about…

Kind of beautiful tho

Sapna's avatar

The family is definitely crazy.

Bea's avatar

I love a GOOD cliffhanger. It’s like, literacy edging. 😏🫦

MA Knight's avatar

That’s what we should call it instead

Bea's avatar

I support this.

Edith Bow's avatar

Ahhh what the fuck, not the cliffhanger! The tension is so good I can taste it in my mouth. Loved it. I'll be thinking of the next one.

MA Knight's avatar

Couldn’t help myself! Thank you, Edith!

RM Greta's avatar

gaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh what?!? This chapter was so good. The weirdness, the tension, the guns. Dammit. Well done.

MA Knight's avatar

Hehehe I was looking forward to getting your eyes on this. Thank you 💗

RM Greta's avatar

I meant to also say the scratching under the house as she walked in and then again while in the living room. excellent. during the whole talk about ridding the earth of the disease of course i got a little upset about how much it parallels christian views on queerness. ugh

MA Knight's avatar

Yes…they must have big squirrels in their basement or something… maybe raccoons… (thank you)

And yeah, the parallels with the queer experience are there. It was inevitable, it was intentional. 💔

Hylia Corvidae's avatar

Ahhh cliffhanger

Ohmygosh that was so *tense*

Gwen doesn’t know?!?!

Oh this is so exciting

MA Knight's avatar

🤭🤭🤭

Gregory Blair's avatar

Wheeee!!!!! 😁

MA Knight's avatar

A ringing endorsement, thank you Greg!

Richard Pack's avatar

I was nodding along at first, "can't tell your family," sure, "can't go to the police," makes sense, "Gwen can't know."

What?

Excuse me?

How the . . .

What?

MA Knight's avatar

Yeahhhh 🫣🤐

Lee Summers's avatar

The suspense! This chapter was dreadfully fun to read.

MA Knight's avatar

Thank you, Lee!!

Saint-Lazare's avatar

You... You. YOU!!!! Gaaaaaaah.