Bloodlines

[methodwriter85]

Thanks for outing me, Mark. Now I'll get bugged by people who want the inside scoop.;-) Which will be futile, since I ain't saying anything. Unless you are a hunky college Southern frat boy, then you might be able to convince me to give it up. The inside scoop, I mean.;-) Anyways, have faith in Mark. The story is great.

[Mark Arbour]

Don't make false promises... with a vampire about you might find yourself being taken up on them *licks lips and sharpens teeth*

 

Seriously this was one of the best chapters of the story and one of the worse. I held my breath for most of it and blue really isn't my colour. I think the detail is just right and in keeping with the story and the characters. It is frustrating not knowing and having all the false results but that's what it's like. For anyone who has been through the process of being tested for something and not knowing you have the frustration, the worry, even the guilt just right. I think this is awesome writing. Give me more

 

 

Thanks Nephy. That is a really tough thing to deal with, even if the malady isn't fatal. Sometimes not knowing is worse than almost anything.

 

I couldn't agree more. With all due respect to Mark M, I really don't want to read long descriptions of a hospital room. But this chapter dealt with the frustration everyone was going through trying to figure out what was going on with Matt. It's angst, it's plot, it's the heart of any well-written story. It drives us crazy sometimes, but without it the story would be bland. Yes, I got frustrated with the fact that Jack couldn't tell Matt what was going on, but that was the whole point. The fact that we care is a sign of how well-written the story is.

 

I appreciate the fact that you got where I was going, and what I was trying to say.

 

45 and 46 are two great chapters. I can feel Matt's frustration and his hope. I think you've described the way a patient feels - mostly accepting of the situation, while watching everyone else freak out - pretty well. And I sure feel for Wade and the rest of the family, watching Matt go through all this. It was also good to see Wade channel his frustration into the game, and a nice break for us to get out of the hospital room for a while. Even readers need a break.

 

I'm thinking Hep C + bad kidney function + who the hell knows what else, I sure hope the cure isn't worse than the disease...

 

I can't wait for Stef to show up, that will be interesting.

 

Well done, Mark!

 

I hope you're describing the way a patient feels from someone else's perspective.

 

I really enjoyed getting into Wade's head and trying to distinguish him from Matt. I enjoy his character, and I hope you do too. We'll be in his mind for a few more chapters, and I like it there. I think I'd like being in his body more though.

[Mark Arbour]

Thanks for outing me, Mark. Now I'll get bugged by people who want the inside scoop.;-) Which will be futile, since I ain't saying anything. Unless you are a hunky college Southern frat boy, then you might be able to convince me to give it up. The inside scoop, I mean.;-) Anyways, have faith in Mark. The story is great.

 

You do that, and send pics, and you're forgiven.

[Les42]

Thanks Nephy. That is a really tough thing to deal with, even if the malady isn't fatal. Sometimes not knowing is worse than almost anything.

 

 

 

I appreciate the fact that you got where I was going, and what I was trying to say.

 

 

 

I hope you're describing the way a patient feels from someone else's perspective.

 

I really enjoyed getting into Wade's head and trying to distinguish him from Matt. I enjoy his character, and I hope you do too. We'll be in his mind for a few more chapters, and I like it there. I think I'd like being in his body more though.

[Les42]

Mark,

I have enjoyed your stories about the English Navy and Granger. I am glad you are continuing the story.

[someone else]

I have just caught up with the story and forum, having been out of contact for the last week or so. As always, the story is great and leaves me wanting more. I was amazed to find that no one has made a comment about Mark being very socially responsible in showing that unsafe sex has real consequences - while it does seem that Matt's symptoms do not fit with sero-conversion (but I have no medical training, so this is just speculation), he has been diagnosed with syphilis and this makes him more susceptible to HIV-AIDS and STD's in general for the rest of his life (he really needs to practice safe sex, if he survives this).

 

Having lived and loved in the pre-AIDS era and experienced the truly awful devastation wrought by the disease among my friends and lovers, safe sex is something I take very seriously, even within committed relationships (perhaps I am just a cynic at heart, but I see no point in taking those risks for anyone). Whenever I start to feel the symptoms of influenza, I always manage to convince myself that I am about to die and pester my doctor relentlessly - I am fortunate enough to have never experienced sero-conversion, and I do admit to being a little dramatic at times. Mark is documenting some of this horror - not knowing, fearing the reaction of those you love, fearing an early but horrific death; all of this is real.

 

In Australia, we have continual public education campaigns targeted to the gay and bisexual communities; all licensed sex on premises venues (SOPV; elsewhere known as , dark places) hand out condoms and lube on entry and unlimited additional supplies are available throughout the venues, without cost; outreach workers patrol beats and venues (not just SOPV, but bars and clubs also) handling out safe sex kits (condoms, lube and information). Intravenous drug users are included, with syringes available from needle exchanges and outreach workers, 24x7. Everyone who is sexually active with multiple partners is encouraged to take a comprehensive set of tests by their GP, at least every six months; it is always a great relief when the test results are negative. It is difficult, but still possible, to not come across these services. And yet, the number of infections continues to grow and lives are needlessly shattered. Unsafe sex has real consequences, and I do believe that we cannot do enough to educate ourselves and others about this topic - hence my surprise that this aspect has not yet been mentioned in this forum (and hence my rather boring post; another black mark on my reputation).

 

 

[Tiger]

While I understand your sentiments, there's also another aspect. A lot of us want to be able to bareback. Keeping that in mind, we must all know the risks and accept them. If you bareback, you can get HIV, and that's not all. While HIV is the most serious, I am sure everyone knows that hepatitis is no picnic, and I'm sure that nobody wants genital herpes back there... So if you decide not to play it safe, make damn sure your partner isn't a total slut.

[alphadog415]

Unsafe sex has real consequences, and I do believe that we cannot do enough to educate ourselves and others about this topic - hence my surprise that this aspect has not yet been mentioned in this forum (and hence my rather boring post; another black mark on my reputation).

 

SE -

Your post was not boring at all. Actions have consequences. That is something which constantly slips from the conscious thought of those who live in the here and now. The unending parade of funerals and memorials is becoming a distant echo. The diminished numbers of people aged 45 - 70 in gay neighborhoods is now just another norm. It is hard to tell someone how ugly it can become again if they are not on guard. No, your post reminds me that I have let down those who trained me to be a public speaker to high schools and colleges about safe sex. I grew tired and had to stop, but that does not mean I should ignore forums like this. I am still a member of society and as such I have responsibilities. I allowed the chapters' obvious message to just slip by me. Matt does allow himself too many "Oh well" moments. If this does turn out to be an STD I hope the following chapter sees him awaken to his deleterious ways. Thank you SE for waking me up again.

 

'Course my money is still on something more deliberate than a natural infectious agent...

 

Dave

 

 

[alphadog415]

While I understand your sentiments, there's also another aspect. A lot of us want to be able to bareback. Keeping that in mind, we must all know the risks and accept them. If you bareback, you can get HIV, and that's not all. While HIV is the most serious, I am sure everyone knows that hepatitis is no picnic, and I'm sure that nobody wants genital herpes back there... So if you decide not to play it safe, make damn sure your partner isn't a total slut.

 

tutti -

One of the risks that few think about is that once your are HIV+ and on those expensive meds, many companies will go out of their way to get you off their insurance plan or off their employ all together. Yes this is technically illegal and blatantly imoral but it does happen.

 

Barebacking today is just dangerous and should be limited to commited partners. Besides the fact that HepC and AIDS still kill, there is a slowly rising rate of anal cancer in men caused by the same HPV that causes cirvical cancer in women. Something is also causing a huge number of long term HIV survivors to die of heart failure between 55 & 60. The evidence is not all in but it is pointing to the triple drug cocktail that keeps HIV in check. The fact that these drugs exist is great, but they are Poison. They're long term effects on the body are only vaguely understood. Our understanding of the myriad of chemical pathways they might effect in the body or even a single cell is still just beyond its' infancy.

 

And now back to our story...

 

Dave

[Mark Arbour]

I'm glad you brought this up. Barebacking is very dangerous, but if I was in a committed relationship with another guy, I'd probably do it. Without that, it's simply Russian Roulette. Still, some people like to gamble. I often wonder if that's not at the core of the risky behavior, the desire to push the envelope and take risks, as opposed to the desire for sex without a condom.

[Mark M]

LOL well I have a few friends in Canada, but they are all female and definitely not named Mark.

 

Hope it didn't seem like I was attacking you personally because that's not what I intended to do. I enjoy reading your posts, but I was just disagreeing on that one point.

 

no i definatly didn't feel that at all and thank you for saying you enjoy my posts, i enjoy yours just as much plus....i like to post often so it was an excuse

 

I don't mind feedback, but you're bitching about a poll and you don't even know if it's valid or not. Talk to me when you know the answer. That's like taking a test where the first question is tough, so you say the whole test is wrong. Besides, it's pretty wild to hear you say that when you get most of the polls right.

 

BTW, there are only two members of my team who frequent GA. One is Jeremy, who is simply playful. He has no desire to create anxiety or any negative emotions at all. The other is Sharon, and you all already know that she is patently evil.

 

 

 

Paya gets one wronge after so many right it's gotta be wrong no??? i will admit i did get the impression 3 would be going to the country club

 

Thanks for outing me, Mark. Now I'll get bugged by people who want the inside scoop.;-) Which will be futile, since I ain't saying anything. Unless you are a hunky college Southern frat boy, then you might be able to convince me to give it up. The inside scoop, I mean.;-) Anyways, have faith in Mark. The story is great.

 

 

how about a naked canadian...god no's marks been bugging

[Mark Arbour]

 

how about a naked canadian...god no's marks been bugging

 

You know, you and Jeremy would probably be perfect together.

[Tiger]

I'm glad you brought this up. Barebacking is very dangerous, but if I was in a committed relationship with another guy, I'd probably do it. Without that, it's simply Russian Roulette. Still, some people like to gamble. I often wonder if that's not at the core of the risky behavior, the desire to push the envelope and take risks, as opposed to the desire for sex without a condom.

Well, your characters don't reflect that. Obviously it wouldn't be possible for Granger to use condoms, but I'm sure STDs were rampant in those times just as they are now, and I am pretty sure that antibiotics were not invented until the middle 20th century (somewhere between 1940 and 1960 most likely), and syphilis or gonorrhea at that time would have been a death sentence, but contraception had also not yet been invented. As for Matt, hopefully he'll learn not to act so carelessly. I just hope it isn't too late.

[Mark Arbour]

Well, your characters don't reflect that. Obviously it wouldn't be possible for Granger to use condoms, but I'm sure STDs were rampant in those times just as they are now, and I am pretty sure that antibiotics were not invented until the middle 20th century (somewhere between 1940 and 1960 most likely), and syphilis or gonorrhea at that time would have been a death sentence, but contraception had also not yet been invented. As for Matt, hopefully he'll learn not to act so carelessly. I just hope it isn't too late.

 

STDs were a big problem in that era, and of them, syphilis was the worst. I was just reading a biography of our friend, tough old Admiral Jervis, lamenting the fact that after the men were ashore or the ships in port, their health was significantly impaired by all of the diseases they picked up from "unclean" women.

 

From Wiki:

 

 

There were originally no effective treatments for syphilis. The Spanish priest Francisco Delicado wrote El modo de adoperare el legno de India (Rome, 1525) about the use of Guaiacum in the treatment of syphilis. He himself suffered from syphilis. Another common remedy was mercury: the use of which gave rise to the saying "A night in the arms of Venus leads to a lifetime onMercury".^[38] It was administered multiple ways including by mouth,^{[citation needed]} by rubbing it on the skin^{[citation needed]} and by injection.^[39] One of the more curious methods was fumigation, in which the patient was placed in a closed box with his head sticking out. Mercury was placed in the box and a fire was started under the box that caused the mercury to vaporize. It was a grueling process for the patient and the least effective for delivering mercury to the body. The use of mercury was the earliest known suggested treatment for syphilis.

[methodwriter85]

I don't mind that Mark hasn't done the STD storyline for Bridgemont. The CAP series has featured STD's pretty prominently- gonorrea in The Land Whore, fears of herpes in Be Rad, AIDS in Be Rad and in Man in Motion. I mean, there are no condoms in that time, and not much effective treatment. I doubt anyone wants to read about George Granger going insane because of mercury posioning due to his treatment for syphillis.

[Mark Arbour]

I don't mind that Mark hasn't done the STD storyline for Bridgemont. The CAP series has featured STD's pretty prominently- gonorrea in The Land Whore, fears of herpes in Be Rad, AIDS in Be Rad and in Man in Motion. I mean, there are no condoms in that time, and not much effective treatment. I doubt anyone wants to read about George Granger going insane because of mercury posioning due to his treatment for syphillis.

 

We'll save that for Caroline.

[methodwriter85]

We'll save that for Caroline.

You do that, and you will never hear the end of it from Sharon.;-) Anyways, "the fat kid from Stand By Me married Rebecca Romijn. Doesn't that just piss you off?" LOL. Mark was going to have the nurse look like Christie Brinkley, which seemed like a reference that wasn't right for someone who is 18 in 1999. It seemed more like a reference someone who was 18 in 1980, when Brinkley was on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. I consulted with a mutual friend of ours who is the same age as Matt, and he confirmed that he and his friends were not getting hot and bothered by Christie Brinkley in the late 90s. So the 1980 cover model was replaced by the 1999 Swimsuit Issue model. It's all about getting the nuances of a generation right.

[Enric]

You do that, and you will never hear the end of it from Sharon.;-) Anyways, "the fat kid from Stand By Me married Rebecca Romijn. Doesn't that just piss you off?" LOL. Mark was going to have the nurse look like Christie Brinkley, which seemed like a reference that wasn't right for someone who is 18 in 1999. It seemed more like a reference someone who was 18 in 1980, when Brinkley was on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. I consulted with a mutual friend of ours who is the same age as Matt, and he confirmed that he and his friends were not getting hot and bothered by Christie Brinkley in the late 90s. So the 1980 cover model was replaced by the 1999 Swimsuit Issue model. It's all about getting the nuances of a generation right.

 

how sad that experience gathered by long years is not appreciated in modeling profession.

 

Once upon a time, I listened to a Soviet joke, a brothel manager (timed in the Brezhnev epoch, such as 1970s) wondering why customers are not appreciative of their striptease. He wondered aloud to the effect: "the head performer womabn is a most merited individuakl, a loyal communist, and party member already since 1922....

 

The woman certainly would have gathered an outstanding record of experience, already fifty or so years adult and communist... and performing still in striptease.

 

should I conclude that viewers of models are superficial people?

[Hoskins]

Hey folks, they had condoms in the 1700's. They were animal membrane, usually lambskin.

 

From here, the Scientific American.

 

But weren't we talking about the late 90s?

[methodwriter85]

Models sign up for the fact that they have short careers because experience and wisdom is not what this career is about. Its about the beauty of the young form, which serves as a blank canvas for designers. Models know they are done by their 30s if not by their mid-20s, which is why models like Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum make secondary careers in hosting tv shows and the like. Its like how athletes retire in their 30s and get jobs like becoming sportcasters. I doubt Christie Brinkley really cares that she's no longer a masturbation fantasy for teenage boys like she was thirty years ago.

[Tiger]

We'll save that for Caroline.

Nah, make her death quick and painless. Just don't kill Calvert. KK thanks.

[Mark Arbour]

Models sign up for the fact that they have short careers because experience and wisdom is not what this career is about. Its about the beauty of the young form, which serves as a blank canvas for designers. Models know they are done by their 30s if not by their mid-20s, which is why models like Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum make secondary careers in hosting tv shows and the like. Its like how athletes retire in their 30s and get jobs like becoming sportcasters. I doubt Christie Brinkley really cares that she's no longer a masturbation fantasy for teenage boys like she was thirty years ago.

 

Christie Brinkley will still be a masturbation fantasy when she's 60. Is she 60 yet?

[methodwriter85]

Christie Brinkley is 55. She does look amazing, but we had to go with what 18-year old guys in 1999 were drooling after, not what 18-year old guys in 1981 such as yourself were drooling after. It's a good thing we have Adam Phillips for source material.

[KJames]

OMG I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop for a while, but I never saw this coming. Poor Matt.

 

The uncertainty over Matt's health was definitely unexpected and sad, but Matt and Wade were so wonderful together. I loved the little moments, like the way Matt immediately asked to check where Wade was before he went to the hospital and the unequivocal support Wade was giving Matt in the hospital room. Even though I've only "known" these two characters for one story, they are quickly moving up to one of my favorite couples with JP and Stef, and Brad and Robbie.

 

I understand why AIDS would be the scary prospect for Matt, but I'm wondering which would be more deadly, leukemia or AIDS? Hopefully he has mono!

I'm with Paya on Hepatitis...had Hep.A only once, and never want it again...it's a real bitch when even your skin hurts... ...I think Matt has Hep.D, which is serious and laid a friend of ours up in the hospital for 6 months.

 

Alright then. Do I post Belvidera or Bloodlines next?

 

 

Sailing on the ocean is slow and takes time, Bloodlines next.

[Mark Arbour]

I'm with Paya on Hepatitis...had Hep.A only once, and never want it again...it's a real bitch when even your skin hurts... ...I think Matt has Hep.D, which is serious and laid a friend of ours up in the hospital for 6 months.

 

 

Sailing on the ocean is slow and takes time, Bloodlines next.

 

The next chapter of Belvidera is in Joe's hands. Bloodlines is up next, probably on Tuesday.