Honeydew Syndrome

Honeydew Syndrome is a web comic about a group of teenage boys (and two girls) in high school. It’s split basically into two parts, the first section focusing on an emo boy and a jock, the second on two different couples, one that’s been together for awhile and one that’s in the pre-getting together phase.

If you’ve read a lot of online slash fiction, you won’t be too surprised by the general plot line in the first section. An emo and jock are paired together on a project and there was an incident involving violence between them (the jock hit the emo kid in the face). The main difference here is that it’s in web comic form.

Also, it isn’t completely typical. The characters are much less drama prone than in many stories. There’s no stereotypical bullying or rampant homophobia. In fact, I think that at least a bit of the drama (in the first section) can be blamed on the fact that the emo kid buys too much into the fact that all jocks are homophobic assholes. It’s sweet though and the emo kid has a backbone, a sense of humor, and a serious knowledge of geek stuff.

The second section deviates from the typical a bit more and I like it quite a bit more. One guy is interested in another. The ‘another’ in this is cold and aloof. The first struggles with his crush, what to do about it, etc. This section covers some of the same time as the first did and is sort of a behind the scenes bit for parts, but also goes beyond.

It also goes back and forth between the guy that is interested in the other one and his group of friends that includes a couple with a complicated history that they’ve never really resolved.

None of the storylines are outstanding and none of the characters are really ever fully developed. There is nothing explicit and only a few kisses and a little cuddling.

That said, I do like this. It has comical parts and there is just something endearing about it. The characters are cute if not totally 3D and the art is better than sooooooo many web comics out there and even some published yaoi manga.

First Page

Ijimetaihodo Aishiteru

Ijimetaihodo Aishiteru by Mizukami Shin is a collection of short stories.

Takashi has been bullying Haruki since they were children. But he's an idiot, and Haruki always manipulates him. Will these two ever sort out their feelings for each other?

The Fox's Wedding- The Fox's Wedding- Tohru has just quit his job, broken up with his fiancee and moved back home. And it's all because of his supervisor, Hanao! But Hanao is more than he appears to be...

Foreign Culture Communication- A historical story! Commodore "Just call me Darling," is new to Japan and is given a young, beautiful and incredibly naive translator named Haneda Takayuki.

Little Lost Lamb- Kamiya Inoru's parents run a Catholic church and he helps out by listening to confessions. When classmate Shiba Youichi comes in and confesses that he's in love with his classmate, Kamiya, the priest substitute can't resist seeing how far Shiba will go for forgiveness...
Warning: Dirty things happen in a church, and with religious objects. Also, the author doesn't know much about Catholicism.

Educational Affections- Student Ogawa has changed lately since his father remarried and he aquired a new stepbrother. Both basketball team coach Koga and school doctor Takamura are concerned about his home life, but when they find out what Ogawa's brother's been up to will Koga be able to keep his cool?"

This manga is definitely different than a lot of yaoi I’ve read. It’s more like hentai/porn in that there's a lot of sex and the sex scenes are hot, explicit, and a decent length.. Toys are used in two of the stories. The storylines are fairly basic, sticking to the character’s relationships with each other exclusively, and none of the characters develop beyond the fundamentals. None of the relationships really get convulted at all. This book is fundamentally romantic porn.

However, the relationships have interesting dynamics to them. The ukes are the pursuers in most of the shorts and they aren’t remotely passive. Most of them are manipulative and know what they want.

I liked the art in this. It’s a little different than what I’ve seen before, but in a good way. The characters are willowy and the ukes are especially delicate like usual, but the eyes are very, very expressive. The faces are of a different style- more realistic, but not the point that it’s distracting.

View here

That's the Spectrum Nexus Link. I know it can also be found on animephile and probably other manga sharing websites.

Less than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal

(Page 150 of the Less than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal)

This is web comic about two very different men who go on a cross country road trip together for their own reasons. They don’t know each other- they meet at a bar and one gets the other (who is hammered) agree to drive. The first one pay for everything.

It's about 175 pages in and nothing really dramatic has happened yet. The real gayness just started recently. And yet I have thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a slice of life comic. There are no outrageous situations other than the premise and even the fact that two guys who barely know each other are driving cross country together isn’t dramatized. It’s a laid back comic. There’s a couple marijuana scenes and I feel like pot pretty much characterizes the entire thing. It’s just kinda chillin‘. It’s a nice break from the yaoi manga I usually read where everyone is always crying and screaming.

I smile a lot while reading this. The boys are likable while still having depth. I feel like these two are real people, like I could just go and hang out with them tomorrow. I guess that’s what’s been happening in the comic so far- a lot of character development in a general comedic way as the characters get to know each other and become friends. But serious issues are addressed. Racism, homophobia, and the stereotypes in gay culture have all been dealt with at least a little. It's funny on the surface, but there are more serious moments and the underlying story and themes are serious as well.

The art’s fairly good, once again unlike most web comics and yaoi manga. The characters are pretty realistic looking and the scenery is gorgeous. It’s a little sketchy, but everything is neat enough to be perfectly clear and there’s more depth to the pictures than I’m used to seeing.

So, if you like instant gratification and endless drama, this is not for you. For everyone else, check it out!

Here

Pro tip: The road signs at the top of the page are clickable.

Shadow of the Templar

FanArt by Macrea

The Shadow of the Templar is a series of four novel length online stories. It tells the story of Simon Drake, a young FBI student, and Jeremy Archer, an internationally wanted thief. They tangle as adversaries and later team up to catch a bigger evil. Plot sound familiar? Well the actual thing isn't. These stories are fantastic. They kept me interested and guessing, refusing to stick to cliches and stereotypes.

These novels are not just gay fiction. They are actual stories first and foremost. And good ones. I found myself anxious about characters, excited as their plans culminated into explosions, gunshots and double-crossings, and laughing out loud quite a bit.

There is focus on their relationship, but the novels are mostly event driven. There is so much other stuff that the gayness sometimes becomes secondary in these stores. It’s fabulous. The characters develop slowly over time, revealing more and more as the story progresses. The characters are also why I like this so much. One is sorta obviously gay, but it could be passed off as being high-class, English, and generally debonair. The other is so fucking manly, he would not make anyone's gaydar ping if it wasn't for the boner in his pants for a guy.

Characters other than the two main ones are never too developed but they are not stereotypes and they all certainly have their own separate personalities- they’re just never quite as fully explained.

All the sex scenes fade to black in the main narrative, but the author has a couple under short stories neatly labeled with where they fit in. They are completely unnecessary to the story, but if you’re like me and like reading that stuff, I suggest keeping on eye on where those lovely short scenes go.

It got a little slow for me at times but I couldn’t make myself abandon the story for more than a day at a time- I was far too interested. This series is my favorite fiction on the internet, including the pay-for stuff I have read. It is definitely different- if you want only romance, fluff, and sex you are going to be disappointed- but I thought this was thoroughly enjoyable.

It's not quite published fiction level for a couple reasons: There are some typos, but they are few and far between. Also, I'm fairly sure a good deal of this stuff could never work in real life. Law enforcement does not work like the author portrays it an neither do criminals- even I know that and I'm not exactly well versed in either subject- but it's fiction and is not too ridiculous that it distracts from the story. That said, I enjoyed it and thought the story was a lot more interesting than some of the published stuff I've read.

Novel Link

Why I can't make you click that, I highly suggest you do.

Hoshi No Yakata

Hoshi no Yakata by Tori Maia centers around the employees of an S&M club. The artwork is beautiful and graphic and the storylines are generally filled with angst and sugary sweetness. It is 5 volumes long and highly explicit. S&M is a main focus so there are toys used and the sex is painful for the one playing the role of the submissive.

There are many different characters, but they are easy to tell apart. Each has their own look and personality. I definitely got attached to many of them. They know what love and emotional pain are. The employees of the S&M give up their bodies to the customers, or “guests” as the master insists on calling them, but their hearts are their own.

The art is beautiful and although the anatomy is somewhat average for a yaoi novel- slender men with toned muscles- I found the rendering to be exceedingly beautiful and there were less skinny little boys with big eyes than usual. The detail is also worth mentioning. The backgrounds are lovely, the shading is intense and moody at parts, but the outfits are kinky and meticulously depicted.

The raunchy, painful sex is definitely a big part of the manga, but the storylines are worth paying attention to as well. You could read this just for the story if you wanted to, although you might be a little distracted on the way.

Warnings: There is rape, but it is not a main storyline, not too explicit, and no one falls in love with their rapists. If you’re really really bothered by incest, there is a teeny tiny bit although there is no sex. Only inappropriate touching.

You can read this here.