Another voice in the Woods @kfs1001 - Tumblr Blog

Good morning, all.

I have not posted much lately. Honestly, and in my opinion, there has been no need. The world has moved on, and fanfiction has prospered. Again, and in my opinion, I believe D and C have found their equilibrium, and considering the Tony posts and a few others, I think life is better for them. Something has occurred behind the scenes. I could speculate, but without facts to back up my comments, there is no point.

I will, however, use this opportunity to promote my works on An Archive of Our Own for a bit of self-interest.

Home | Archive of Our Own

A little while ago, I removed my story, Pretence and Obsession, from the site. To be honest, I was having issues with the ending of the third instalment and decided to do a rewrite and update. I have since been posting again. The first instalment is available in its entirety, and the second instalment has been posted to Chapter Three.

Pretence and Obsession - Anderovska - Chapter 1 - kafreses - Glee (TV 2009) [Archive of Our Own]

Pretence and Obsession – Amblesey - Chapter 1 - kafreses - Glee (TV 2009) [Archive of Our Own]

My other works on the site is the Love’s Cycles series. Now, just as a heads up, I am considering doing a rewrite and update of this when I have completed Pretence and Obsession.

Love's Cycle - Discovery - Chapter 1 - kafreses - Glee [Archive of Our Own]

Love's Cycle - Coupledom - Chapter 1 - kafreses - Glee [Archive of Our Own]

Love’s Cycle – Ascendancy - Chapter 1 - kafreses - Glee [Archive of Our Own]

At the same time, my mind has been percolating with two other Klaine ideas:

One is a Hogwarts (based on the video game) crossover.

The second is a Star Wars crossover (based on the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic). D and C are Star Wars fans after all.

I'm not sure if you check Tumblr anymore I know it's been a long time. I just noticed that your historical fic "Pretense and Obsession" disappeared from AO3 and I was hoping you had a PDF version that I could read because I'm a huge fan of historical AUs and I promise if you share this with me I will not share it with anyone else. I just really want to read this story.

Good morning, this is Kafreses. I took the fic down to do a rewrite and have reposted since then. The first book is available in its entirety, and the second book has had posts up to chapter three thus far.

Pretence and Obsession - Anderovska - Chapter 1 - kafreses - Glee (TV 2009) [Archive of Our Own]

Pretence and Obsession – Amblesey - Chapter 1 - kafreses - Glee (TV 2009) [Archive of Our Own]

Hello! I run the Klaine fanfic library, and we've had an ask for the PDF of your story, Pretense and Obsession - Anderovska - would it be possible to get the file or are you hosting it somewhere other than AO3? Thank you very much. ~Lynne

I an presently rewriting and reposting pretense of obsesssion. I have posted the first four rewritten chapter so far. Chapter five is on the way.

My mother is two months shy of her 105th birthday. Someone visits here daily: myself, my husband, my brother and his wife. She now sleeps 20 hours a day, which is only a matter of time. I told her once that I would not have missed the process for anything, which is not something to be frightened of but instead embraced. It is something we cannot avoid. Watching her, even when she is asleep, I am amazed by what I see. I see my mother; she is as beautiful now as she was when I was a child. Her life force may be waning, but she is no less vibrant and exceptional.

I am learning that the end of life is not something to fear. It is part of the beauty of nature and a path we will all follow in our times. In a physical sense, it is an end because the body stops functioning. In a spiritual sense, it is just part of the path to the enlightenment of the soul as it is transcended to whatever comes next. In time, the soul may seek a new physical existence in a new and incredible body to experience existence through new eyes and with new thoughts, hopes and dreams.

Now, take that in context with my previous post. Mental health is not death in the physical sense, though, for the body goes on. It is death or dismembering of who a person is, what they are and what they could become. I am not a psychologist or an expert, but I can see that we, as individuals or communities, can help those who call for help. As a gay man, I have witnessed the effects of coming out on my friends, some committed suicide. Coming out is still hard, and it creates mental health issues. These issues are not insurmountable for those who experience them and for those who watch a loved one or friend suffer. There is help. There is hope. There is life. There is love.

A compassionate society helps others and allow people to be who and what they are. They do not constrain or tell people you must be this or that.

Glee, Heartstoppers, and all the programs, plays, movies, books, music, and conversations that educate while creating hope are wonders. The writers, producers, directors, crew and cast, in their ways, are helping, allowing us through their art to experience and see what many of us would have swept under the carpet. Actors are people who create a character and bring it to life; their skill makes that character real to the audience. Yes, that is their job, but they would not have auditioned for the role if they did not share the values of the story.

These portrayals of often fictional characters draw us to them. We recognise compassion in a look and feel passion in a touch. It makes the story real to us and allows us to find hope in our own situation. That is the beauty of media, though there is a dark side that would have us all pegged into the same hole.

I guess what I am trying to say is that there are things in life we have no control over, such as death. However, we have choices about almost everything else. The characters of Glee (for example, Blaine and Kurt, Santana and Brittany), like the characters of Heartstoppers (Nick and Charlie, Ell and Toa), portrayed their choices written for them with valour and compassion and with an intention to educate.

Life’s issues are not scripted. They happen often without warning. Those of us in the LGBTQ community face many problems that others do not even fathom. Lose of acceptance. Lose of self-worth. Lose dignity: These can all be regained and strengthened with guidance, bravery and compassion.

Such issues are not restricted to the LGBTQ community. They can be felt by anyone who finds him/her/their selves marginalised for whatever reason. We need only view examples and see we are not alone in our hearts. This is not an end. This is not death.

I have just finished binging season three of Netflix’s Heartstoppers. I have to praise Alice Oseman for a wonderful story, Netflix for being brave and filming and, above all, the cast for such a beautiful job depicting many challenging subjects.

Transphobia is such a hot topic, and Ell’s interview was terrific, though it was not what she expected. I think it spoke to the issues a community faces that should be hugged and loved. We are all human; we all want to breathe the air, live our lives and love who and how we want. Straight, gay, bisexual, pan and binary are all a matter of biology. Yes, it is a choice, a choice of what and who Nature deems us to be. It is that simple. Transexuals face a wholly different and biological dilemma, having the essence of a woman or a man sustained by a physical body one feels they do not belong to. It is a part of Nature, just like every other living thing. Nature is diverse and robust. It is malleable and changeable, and while defined by words and definitions, those phrases are forever changing and evolving. It is not for one person or a group of people to determine what is right and wrong, it is up to the individual to determine what is right or wrong from themselves.

What I just wrote is a wonderful segue into mental illness that the creators, crew and cast of Heartstopper tackled, in my opinion, head-on. We all face it in some form. Sometimes, mental illness is a minor itch that we, the individual, can scratch. Often, it is not. It is scary for those affected by it, but it is just frightening for loved ones and friends who watch, pray and often feel helpless. Like so many things, someone who is mentally ill, like an alcoholic, has to realise for themselves there is a problem before they can seek help. Nick and Charlie , the leading characters in Heartstoppers, faced this. One was in denial for a long time, and the other was in love but capable of assisting when facing bigger issues. Those who are going through mental illness suffer, but so do those who try to help but find themselves standing at a distance, watching, hoping and hurting.

Heartstoppers and Glee are two very different stories from two different times. This does not mean that one is better or greater than the other; it means they both tackled issues facing not only the LGBTQ community but many others. Glee was groundbreaking for its time, and it still is. Likewise, Heartstoppers is, for this moment, the time. In the future, there will be other programs, movies, plays, music, and books that will break new ground and foster new understanding.

As a gay man in his sixties, I wish there were shows like Glee and Heartstoppers when I was a teen. Back then, soap operas were the first to have gay characters in minor roles. Making Love and Long Time Companion were fantastic movies for their time.

We are all human. We all eat, sleep, learn, pay taxes, work, cry, celebrate, and live. No one is better than the other, and one is lesser. Why, in this day and age, are there people who still think they are right and their beliefs are right and supersede the rights we all have as human beings. That we should follow them and be as they want us to be.

I am not a political person, but I have political views. To my friends down south, in the United States, vote with our hearts for what you believe is correct for all human beings and not the few narrow-minded individuals.

To my friends above the border in Canada and Europe, we will all vote soon for those who represent us and our values. Do not let our values fade and become a hidden footnote as it did in 1933.