W.a.r. By Jeff Wilson (Jkwsquirrel)

[jkwsquirrel]

So, it's a short one tonight, but an important set-up one.  I posted early because I need to get to bed!  Thank yinz!

[Shadow086]

Another good chapter, but you know how I'm going to react to this one, right?

 

Just when I was starting to not hate him as much, too...

[Israfil]

14 hours ago, Shadow086 said:

Another good chapter, but you know how I'm going to react to this one, right?

 

Just when I was starting to not hate him as much, too...

 

"Him" being Joey or Billy? I think it's clear from my reviews where my loyalties lie haha.

 

It will come back to bite him but I still smirked on Billy's behalf.  Lectures like the one Joey gave, delivered by such a self righteous hypocrite, are one of the surest ways to elicit a very nasty response from me.

[Shadow086]

Just now, Israfil said:

 

"Him" being Joey or Billy? I think it's clear from my reviews where my loyalties lie haha.

 

It will come back to bite him but I still smirked on Billy's behalf.  Lectures like the one Joey gave, delivered by such a self righteous hypocrite, are one of the surest ways to elicit a very nasty response from me.

Joey of course, hahaha.

 

Billy has many flaws, but he's not a self-righteous hypocrite.  I've never seen Billy lash out at someone for no reason, it was always because someone he cared about was being attacked.

 

I actually feel bad for Brett because he'll be the one cleaning up Billy's mess after Joey starts acting on his threats.

Spoiler

And what's with that stupid "I don't hate you because you're gay, you fucking faggot" nonsense?  That's clearly why you hate him.

Seriously, fuck this guy...

[jkwsquirrel]

Joey picked the wrong day to pick a fight with Billy.  Billy was already on edge because of Dustin, and then he didn't have much sleep.  If he'd have let Billy walk away after Billy punched him he would have been okay.  But Joey just had to retaliate.  He could attack Billy.  He could rip on Billy's family.  But when he threatened Billy's relationship with Brett he sealed his fate.  I liked how Billy used Joey's line about breaking Billy's neck and turned it around and used it against Joey.  Also, Joey's lucky all Billy did was bloody up his nose with that punch, considering Billy had to have his hand surgically repaired after the last time he threw a punch.  He's still got a plate in his wrist.

 

I got a kick out of everyone taking the air out of Billy's balloon after he was feeling so smug.  That's kind of been a theme of Retaliation - humbling Billy a bit.  Billy was feeling so good after what he did.

 

Funny thing about Joey's "everything about you sucks" rant...  I used all of the critiques that readers have had about Billy and channeled it into Joey's speech.  The thing is, most of what Joey said was true. A good villain has to be convinced that they are right.  Joey isn't evil.  He truly thinks Billy is a dick.  He sees Billy as corrupting Brett, "making him gay," you might say.  But now that Billy has nuked him?  Who knows what Joey might do?

Edited August 19, 2017 by jkwsquirrel

[Freerider]

 I have faith (pun intended) in Joey. He will keep his mouth shut.

Edited August 19, 2017 by Freerider

[Israfil]

12 hours ago, Freerider said:

 I have faith (pun intended) in Joey. He will keep his mouth shut.

 

As someone who often speaks for characters everyone else hates, I give you kudos.  However, what makes you say that?  Joey made it clear he views Billy as "lesser" for being gay and the only reason he didn't "out" him (if you don't count calling him "faggot" every chance he gets) is cause the threat would keep Billy in line.

 

Now? It's going to be his first order of business along with a whole host of nasty things for revenge.  As I said earlier, he would have done the same thing in Billy's place.  I highly doubt Joey has absorbed any of the "turn the other cheek" lessons from the Bible - if he had, his behavior would have been wayyyyy different up to this point.

[Former Member]

Joey only turns the other cheek (hers) when he’s tired of one girl and is looking for his next victim.  ;-)

[Shadow086]

What does Joey really have to lose by going after Billy now?  Billy threatening to do what he did might have forced them into a stalemate, and Joey would've kept his mouth shut then.  But then Billy went and stupidly played his hand (even though I'm glad he did it, it was still stupid), so now Billy has no leverage to use against Joey.

 

So now there are two things to consider:

1. Joey's going to want revenge on Billy for ruining his reputation
2. He's going to see Billy not as someone who's beneath him, but as someone important enough to be worth destroying.  And that's exactly what Joey's going to do.  But he won't do it on impulse like Billy did.  He's probably going to plan this out and try to humiliate Billy in front of the entire school.

People like Joey who think they're better than everyone don't get humbled that easily, he's not going down without dragging Billy along with him.

[Freerider]

8 hours ago, Israfil said:

 

As someone who often speaks for characters everyone else hates, I give you kudos.  However, what makes you say that?  Joey made it clear he views Billy as "lesser" for being gay and the only reason he didn't "out" him (if you don't count calling him "faggot" every chance he gets) is cause the threat would keep Billy in line.

 

Now? It's going to be his first order of business along with a whole host of nasty things for revenge.  As I said earlier, he would have done the same thing in Billy's place.  I highly doubt Joey has absorbed any of the "turn the other cheek" lessons from the Bible - if he had, his behavior would have been wayyyyy different up to this point.

 

Because he has no need to...

 

People of faith, especially the more fanatical ones, do not view truth as something to be discovered and tested. Truth is established by authority (i.e. if it is written it is true/ if the church leader says it, it is true). This is the way it was in the old world before the Renaissance. Within this group, Joey is much higher in the pecking order than Billy. The only thing he has to do is deny it and they will believe him...

 

I am thinking that the church people will feel sorry for the "lying" Billy and make him a pet project. The misguided son of one of the valuable members just needs some guidance to get in line... and his mother will allow it. This will make Billy so miserable that that alone satisfies Joey's need for revenge. No need for Joey to out him. 

 

Joey knows that outing Billy will damage his friend Brett and Dustin too.  One of the reasons he hates Billy is because he is always hurting others with his impulsive (re)actions... So he gets his revenge without outing Billy.

 

Q.E.D.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2017 by Freerider

[Israfil]

Now, I know that there's a lot of Paula hate and I can totally understand it, she's annoying, but I think her reaction to what Billy did is a little more complicated than plain hypocrisy.  Greg said that she already knows on some level that Billy is gay.  Seeing him air Joey's dirty laundry like that made her worry even more about someone revealing that her son is gay - a lot of her anger came from a "that could be me" mindset.  Not saying that makes it okay, just pointing out that it's not so simple.

 

It's  clear to all that this chapter touched a nerve for me (#triggered lol). Neither of these kids is the rational sort, obviously, which I think we all forget, self included.  When Joey asked what Billy does to make the world a better place (good god, I hate it when people ask me this) my first thought was what does Joey think he does himself?  By virtue of existing as golden boy and claiming to believe in God?  It occurs to me that this could be the case as it is with many hardcore Christians.

Edited August 20, 2017 by Israfil

[Former Member]

23 minutes ago, Israfil said:

 When Joey asked what Billy does to make the world a better place (good god, I hate it when people ask me this) my first thought was what does Joey think he does himself?

He selflessly offers his body, especially the appendage that houses the brain he most often uses, to nubile young ladies, one at a time, for short periods ranging from a few days to a couple weeks. Then he tosses them out like a used kleenex. Just like the good book tells him to (“Be fruitful and multiply”).  ;-)

[Shadow086]

19 minutes ago, Israfil said:

Now, I know that there's a lot of Paula hate and I can totally understand it, she's annoying, but I think her reaction to what Billy did is a little more complicated than plain hypocrisy.  Greg said that she already knows on some level that Billy is gay.  Seeing him air Joey's dirty laundry like that made her worry even more about someone revealing that her son is gay - a lot of her anger came from a "that could be me" mindset.  Not saying that makes it okay, just pointing out that it's not so simple.

The thing that gets to me about Paula is that, while everything you said is true, I feel like the reason she worries isn't Billy at all.  Yes, she knows Billy is gay, but she refuses to accept it, and she worries about people finding out because of what it would do to her reputation.  This has nothing to do with Billy's well-being at all.  I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to throw Billy out once she isn't able to deny that he's gay, like her 'wonderful' pastor did to his son.  Paula shows all the signs of being a hateful, hypocritical, bigoted "Christian", and I can't trust in her ability to the right thing and support Billy when he's going to need it.  That's where the Paula hate comes from in my case.

 

And what Billy does to make the world a better place is calling out the lies and hypocrisy of people like Joey.

[glennish]

It's Thursday.......Can't wait to see the fallout from that nuclear blast...

 

"the Locked-Down Unit"

[jkwsquirrel]

It's all ready to go.  Just waiting for the publishing time.  I'm not going to lie, it's one of the most intense chapters I've ever written.  Very disturbing and dark.  I almost don't want to publish it.  I keep tinkering with it, trying to soften the impact of it.

[Former Member]

11 minutes ago, jkwsquirrel said:

It's all ready to go.  Just waiting for the publishing time.  I'm not going to lie, it's one of the most intense chapters I've ever written.  Very disturbing and dark.  I almost don't want to publish it.  I keep tinkering with it, trying to soften the impact of it.

And we’ll find out if Joey’s ‘unit’ gets locked down!  ;-)

[Shadow086]

Disturbing and dark...Sounds like Dustin's going to be involved in some way.  Although I still think it's going to be about the start of Joey's revenge and Billy's punishment.  We'll find out tonight!

 

I just thought about something.  Is Paula the type to try to 'help' Billy by sending him to 'conversion therapy'?  I can't rule it out and that would be dark and disturbing indeed.  I doubt George would let that happen, though, so I'm not too worried.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Shadow086

[jkwsquirrel]

And it's up and running.  Go read it!  lol

[Former Member]

10 hours ago, droughtquake said:

And we’ll find out if Joey’s ‘unit’ gets locked down!  ;-)

Spoiler

We still don’t know for sure since Joey’s family left town out of embarrassment and shame…  ;-)

 

[Shadow086]

Hey look at that, I was half-right about the chapter.

 

It's going to be torture to wait a whole week to see how Billy reacts to this punch in the gut.  My bet is he acts on impulse and does something stupid.

@jkwsquirrel, early chapter, maybe?

 

 

[glennish]

anxiously awaiting publishing time for the chapter tonight. 

[jkwsquirrel]

3 minutes ago, glennish said:

anxiously awaiting publishing time for the chapter tonight. 

Wait no longer!  Intuition is up and ready!  Massive plot developments await!

[jkwsquirrel]

SPOILER ALERT!!!

 

Okay, so if you haven't read chapter 5-13 "Intuition" yet, don't read this, go read "Intuition" then come back here!

 

Done?  Good!  Now of course, the big reveal of "Intuition" was the father of young Brett Reilly.

 

You might be wondering, how long has good ol' Jeff been plotting this development?  Well how about from chapter one of the very first book!  But now that Billy's figured it out, here were some of the hints that were there along the way:

---------------------------------

I thought for sure this one would be the big spoiler in Cold Winter:

2-3:   Brett and Joey’s dad had a little conversation about how Brett’s mom was doing while I invited Joey to help me with Zelda.
2-4: Your father could walk right up to you and have a conversation with you and you wouldn’t even know it. 

----------------------

This one required a bit of connecting the dots, but it was there.

2-7:   “I see a lot of your father in you, yes.”  Dr. Reilly said.  “Everyone says that you have my eyes, but I think you have your father’s eyes.  He has the most beautiful shade of blue eyes like you do, like looking at the ocean… and those beautiful dark lashes.  And the older you get the more of him I see in you.  That’s not a bad thing.  He was very handsome, and so are you."

5-6:   As he peered over his glasses at me, I couldn’t help but notice how blue his eyes were.  They were very warm and friendly, very handsome.

5-6  Jack: “You can tell a lot about a person by their eyes.”

Like Billy said: “One of the few things (Dr. Reilly) didn’t lie about. He has his father’s eyes.”

------------------------

A subtle one from 5-6:

Jack:  "Jenny was always a nice girl…  Good family.  More Catholic than the pope in those days.  I guess she’s still into all of that stuff."

Billy:   I don’t know what it was about him, but I found him very charming.  Everybody did.  He could have talked the pants off a nun, he was so smooth. 

-----------------------

And the big one where I was afraid I'd given it away very early all the way back in Birthday Bowling Bash:

2-3:  With their brown hair and handsome Irish looks they actually looked a lot alike.  They could almost pass for brothers, if you didn’t know any better.  Of course, Joey had brown eyes and straight hair like his mom and Brett had blue eyes and his hair would get curly if it got too long like his mom.

They could almost pass for brothers…  BECAUSE THEY ARE!  Mwahhahahahaha!!! Well,  half-brothers, anyway.  It was really fun to plan this out!  I've been waiting over a year to tie this all together, and I hope it was a fun reveal for everybody.  I certainly had fun planning it!  What else did I miss?  Did you figure it out before Billy did?

 

[Shadow086]

I made the connection in 5-6 even though I forgot what Jen said in book 2.  I might have put it together sooner but it sort of faded into the background because of everything else that was going on.

 

Did I figure it out before Billy did?  I can't really answer that, since I don't know when Billy figured it out.  It could've been in 5-6, or it could've been way back in book 2.  That's a trick question, Jeff.  I started getting suspicious when it became clear the McKenzies aren't the angels we thought they were.

 

What about that comment Jack made to Billy: “I guess you’re at that age when you’ve started to realize that people your parents’ age had lives before you were born, eh?".  Would that count as a hint?  You even used it as a teaser for the book.

[Former Member]

The line from 2-3 could have been, and certainly was, seen as awkward or ambiguous phrasing that makes English a challenging language even for some native speakers. Many other cases of this sort of confusing wording exists on GA in stories by many writers with all sorts of backgrounds. I certainly don’t remember the context, but Brett and Jack could theoretically have been the ones conversing.

 

You, sir, are much more clever than the majority of GA writers.  ;-)