i haven't reviewed in a /very/ long time, so excuse my blatant awkwardness.

i loved this. i really did. it's hard to find a well-worded, almost poetic story in the HoA archive. not that that's always bad, but it's nice to have a breath of fresh air.

/Sometimes, he rushes forward to cause some fresh misery, and the others glare – and Jerome is all too pleased that there is emotion directed at him, even if it's never pretty – but how quickly they forget, and Jerome sinks back into silence./

oh my god, jerome baby, let me hug you. i love your outlook on this, that jerome pranks and causes pain just to have others look at him and give him some kind of emotion. BEAUTIFUL.

/No matter how hard he claws at the murky waters drowning him, the truth won't let him breathe. He chokes on it, coughs and cries and can't escape. His friends put him in a cage and dismiss him, and the truth rushes in to fill his mouth and throat, to turn his screams to nothing but useless bubbles which trickle upwards, snake-like hisses informing the world about the nothing dying below the surface./

i love how, starting from 'his friends put him in a cage' and continuing on, you made it one long sentence. i love it when people do that because it seems to add a sense of urgency and terror and raw emotions. great job! (:

your ending line - "Jerome Clarke is nothing." - is perfection. just the perfect feel of his acceptance, the desperation and sadness all packed into four words - asdfghkl;. you have a way with words, m'dear.

please keep writing! your stories are a gift to those who read it. (:

.aRi.

Wow! This is absolutely stunning! Beautiful work!