I Try,

So far, I *love* it. Great writing style: check. Developed/developable characters: check. Intriguing plot line: check.

The Red sounds like The Vigils, the school-leading/terrorizing gang from Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate War". If you haven't read that book by now, you most certainly should.

Sincerely,
DaughterofDiemos

That was amazing! i loved the pairing they seemed so.. right by the end! so ignore all other people trying to say other wise! In some ways i felt Keith was left a little out of it until the end but it was realy realy good!

Awesome story!

I couldn't review at the last chapter, so the comments I'm about to leave don't just apply to Chapter 7 - they're relevant to the entire story.

What makes a fiction successful to me is that I continue to remain interested in it and never get sick or tired of it. That's the case with 'Falter' - it's been a couple of years since I've last read it and while I remember being enamoured by it back then, the feeling hasn't faded. It's still there, capturing my attention with the imagination and emotion depicted so vividly with the language you've used.

The depth in the emotions between the characters are so raw that I feel as if I'm intruding on something very personal when I'm witnessing the relationships blossom. One of my favourite parts in the story is when Lucas and Justin are locked inside a cramped closet during Saturday detention. This is a result of the culmination of both characters maturing after having discovered that the theatrics each brings into their school life were designed to hide the personal struggles they battle through at home. And it's truly beautiful to realise that once each boy gets a glimpse past the facades, they discover an emotional bond which overrode the importance each had initially emphasised on sexual satisfaction.

And I loved the raw yet tender depiction of the relationship between Ty and Keith. Although attraction-between-rivals and friends-with-benefits are popular themes amongst romance fiction, each are very difficult to build from a range of plausible scenarios. Whether it'd be fiction or non-fiction, there must be enough realism to properly engage the readers with the story. I felt that, judging from the physical description of Ty, it'd be far-fetched to believe that Keith would be sexually attracted to him, especially given that he was clearly enamoured with Lucas. However, you compensated brilliantly for that by moulding a reltionship which, like the one between Lucas and Justin, blossomed from having made important discoveries. Namely that, again, sexual desire is not a strong enough aspect to cement a fulfilling bond in a relationship

So there you have it - I think you made the pairings believable through the depths of the depictions you brought to your characters. I'm glad you created bonds that were inconceivable at first, yet seemed perfectly natural when you show us how the relationships came about. I'm sad to see that you haven't posted any more stories. Where is the one that was supposed to explore the relationship between Donny and Ethan? The possible themes and storylines that you could use for them are bountiful! But I respect that you must be very proud of 'Falter' and that it'd be an astronomical task to match or better the standards that you've set there. You obviously have an excellent knack for creative writing and I hope that you will continue to awe and amaze people in the future.

great GREAT story you have going on right now. very cute with the whole phone conversation.

woah! this story was presh! but the guy that ran away and the football player threw me off a lil...newho i liked the edning poem. sigh. wish there was more.

To be honest, I only liked the first couple of chapters. It was going smoothly, until you started mixing the pairing, after that it all went downhill to me. Next time, maybe you should stick to a specific pairing. And if Lucas was so powerful, then how come he got a detention? Aren't the teachers scared of him? And if he's so smart, then how come he didn't figure out that the Claw was Tyler from the beginning? It didn't really feel like he was all that smart and powerful.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a flamer; I'm just saying all this to help you out. Maybe take these things into consideration if you ever do get around to editing the story? ^.^

Wow! This is a great story! Now I have to see if there's a sequal!

I think what I liked best about this story was that I never could figure out who was going to end up with who O_O I knew something was gonna happen between Keith and Tyler from the beginning...but that's about it! XD It was a great story and I really enjoyed reading it. My favourite character was Keith ^^ (And no, not because of the hair! D: ...well...not entirely...) Anyway. Yes. Loved it!

Oh, that was just fantastic. I loved it.

The weirdest thing is Keith didn't regcognize Tyler @_@ But I still like this story and all it's slashy goodness ;)

Oh my goodness that was so sweet! I loved the end letter so much, it was true, it really was. still making breakfast club comparisons... oh an d you know what is really weird, whenever i read about the claw, I can't help but think of the little aliens in toystory, who were like obsessed with the claw. maybe?...

Mystery guy= sophmore football player(one of the two)? waggles eyebrows

Ok tone down the hormones here, lu. seriously

You know I'm starting to think that Lucas is just really horny and will ** anything that moves... so would Tyler... oh and saturday detention reminds me of the Breakfast club (lame I know)