Masks and Wings--Fiction by Anne Cain

[pepperlandgirl]

A new story entry has been added:

Masks and Wings--Fiction by Anne Cain

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<span style="font-size:100%;">Halloween, the one time of year when all the masks and costumes come out of the closet, stock in candy companies soar, and pumpkins become the most popular kid in the vegetable aisle. But anyone who knew anything about the other world--the one beneath the often very thin veil of reality comfortably blinding those who weren

[Baldwin]

Interesting. About as derivative as it's possible to be without being fanfic, but once I got past that, I liked the character of Troy. It's hard to convey the idea of the nonhuman mind and still make a character sympathetic (something science fiction writers have been working on a lot the past eighty years).

With Troy being not only a disguised demon, but gay, we're reminded that people in daily life are always putting on a set of behaviors like a costume, reminding themselves to do things that may not be in their basic natures in order to function in society. (Actually, I guess you can be openly gay in San Diego, but openly demonic might be a problem.)

[Baldwin]

I also like the fact that neither character fits any kind of gay stereotype, but also doesn't seem self-consciously anti-stereotype.