Monster

It is possible

As a neuropsychologist the injury as descrbed is possible. There is one famous case of an accountant who had a severe closed head injury. It destroyed part of the brain responsible for emotions. He was unable to make decisions at all. It helped us understand that emotions play an invaluable and necessary part in decision making. He could no longer perform in his profession even though he retained all his math skills. He was self destructive. For example, one night he escaped his care givers. He was found later walking in the middle of a 3 laned expressway with dark clothes. He had no concept of the danger he was in. Loved how you used this condition in the story. A five.

Singularly enjoyable....

.....this was almost Jason Bourne in its I,privations, though the Monster was derived by an unfortunate set of circumstances in operations under hazardous conditions.
Thank you!

5*

This made me a little ill feeling but it was well written.

I think Anne is a fairly useless idiot who took the pretty good offer the devil gave her.

Great story that has left me feeling uneasy!

Awesome story...

I haven't read or heard much about "The Activity" in a while but read a book a few years back about them.

I am working my way through all your stories and haven't commented since you first two but please keep writing.

AnonWes

Circumstances

A great read and a family just trying to function in life.
One teader mentioned that Monster had elements of Jason Bourne which i can see in the story.
The story really didn't blame any one person for doing any bad. Just how circumstances of life have conspired against them. Sure Ex did make some bad choices, she was mainly thinking about her children. Monster just a by product of war. I have seen myself ex army guys who in some way are messed up mentally.

Very good read keep up the good work.

What a splended story!

Wow.
Anne did OK. So emotionally he is dead inside, but the 'face' is OK. It has the image of love, and probably he does need her, on some level. Out off m kin.

Obviously I liked it a lot, and wished I could write as well.

Chilley

well done again.

Vivid and concise.

Bravo Zulu

"There are sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs."

Those of us who spent time in the conventional Army like to tell that story and believe we are "sheepdogs." Then you see real-life "Monsters" and you know the real truth.

Due to a series of fortuitous situations when I was young and stupid, I ended up with a TS clearance. This meant I got sucked upward at a younger age/rank than most. And, because of that, I got to meet a few Monsters. And I got to witness their handiwork. An unnamed operation undertaken by an unnamed activity in a small shithole in Eastern Afghanistan yielded results I had to brief to a couple of flag officers. Six guys, two in over watch, four made the breach. 10 dudes with bad intentions on the other side ended up getting dead. 40 rounds expended, 40 rounds center of mass. 5 AK rounds fired by the other side. 5 FUCKING ROUNDS!!!!! Four guys walked out of that house with nary a scratch, got on a bird, and RTB'ed. I had to do the "clean up" and I filed the reports and the pictures that went with them.

It is then that you remember all dogs are descended from wolves, even sheepdogs.

If I asked for an OMPF and I was told I had to go high-side to get it, I didn't bother, because I already knew who you were and what you were about. And it's OK. Because sometimes wolves are domesticated, and sometimes you need them in your pack. Just don't trust them around the sheep.

You get "fife" stars from me.

@shaman43

> There is one famous case of an accountant who had a severe closed head injury. It destroyed part of the brain responsible for emotions. He was unable to make decisions at all. It helped us understand that emotions play an invaluable and necessary part in decision making. <

Oh I would VERY much like to hear more about this case! It would seem to put a full and complete lie to the "vulcan" approach to intellectual life. Fascinating.

From a perspective familiar with computing/software development and some A.I., I wonder if it was the case that his emotional centers were _truly_ necessary for decision-making, or if it were the case that his past decision-making processing was so emotionally interlinked (and his neural pathways therefore so intertwined) that he was left unable to function when those centers were lost. Given enough of the right sort of therapy over time, could he have regained some level of functionality in decision-making terms? With the innate "fluidity" of neural networks, I would imagine that it could have been possible. ...or was it truly not possible - and if not, why/how?

Fantastic

You've got a franchise here. Get a top flight editor and keep writing.
Txs
5x5

deliciously dark and deeply flawed

The scene in Shameless makes sense now.
Another example of how much can be expressed with so few words.
I can't help wishing there was some way to flip the switch to on again. Both Monster and Ex should be able to enjoy being together as a couple and as parents. But that is the old softy in me wishing.
Will we now be favoured with back stories on the rest of the cast of characters in The Shack?

Nice

Explains everything from "Shameless." About Monster and the Ex, anyway. They were vital to the tale. Time to hear about the kids. Keep it going.

Five Stars

I'm sure

There is something wrong with you stories somewhere but I'll be damned if I can find it. Maybe it is because I'm so pulled into your characters, their lives and their stories I forget to look for mistakes. It wouldn't bother me if i found any. Thank you for a number of fine stories.

Please keep writing, looking forward to it.

Woodmanone

I liked it

Its not just physical damage that can alter someone.
Pysch trauma can as well. I wish it didn't.

Good story, but--

it is spelled "detritus," as in "small particles of organic matter that have broken away from a larger body."

Small point, but details, and words, matter.

Enjoyed the plot line.

Excellent

Thank you. Great stories. Don't you dare stop writing.

MONSTERS OF THE ID

cannot compare to a real live man made monster. TK U MLJ LV NV

Excellent!

Thanks for a fantastic read!

The Only 1...

... Star I've given you so far. I've read all the non-shack stories, all 5*'s. I'm following your timeline and suggested reading sequence from Behind Blue Eyes, all 5*'s till now.
Why now, why is this one so different, why the 1* rating, well...
It's the children you see. Annie was a selfish, self-centered bitch. She submitted to a 15 man gang bang (drugged by her excuse) and lived as a club whore till Monster showed up. That is NOT the kind of woman I want anywhere around my children...EVER! Make any excuse you want for the flow of the story but she is poison and corruption in the lives of innocent children. Better no mother than what she is.
Just My Opinion, YMMV
Morgan DeWolfe
P.S. I've been some of those places and done some of those things in a former life. Your stories are uncomfortably close to the bone.

Interesting concept

Like Shaman43 mentioned, it is certainly possible to lose emotion and empathy due to traumatic brain injury; however, I doubt that there would be a 'slice' left for his kids and no one else. Brain injuries are usually an all or nothing situation, especially if it involves the brain stem - loss of functioning may be very narrow and specific, but would be completely lost, not fragmented.

Still, emotional processing and empathy are not a package deal. Autistic children sometimes lack empathy, but they still have emotion and they do have some rudimentary capacity for bonding. From a neuropsychological standpoint, empathy is the ability to perceive, interpret, and reciprocate emotion. What this means is that the lack of empathy does not make one a heartless sociopathic robot. And sociopaths (rather, antisocials) do indeed have plenty of emotion and plenty of capacity to perceive, interpret, and reciprocate it, albeit falsely. The difference is the lack of conscience, not empathy. Antisocials are infamously insidious actors, and you can't act convincingly without empathizing and feeding on the emotions of others.