Davide

I could tell what her priorities are based on previous chapters. Her not even letting the kids go to their own grandmother's funeral means the not being with Marty ranks very high in her priorities. Her still leaving them with him for three weeks to go on holidays with her partner means her personal enjoyment in her relationship ranks even higher. So it seemed safe to say she'd put that above basically everything.

Using children against an ex-husband or ex-wife is too common and she definitely seems like the kind to do it. As for letting Benjamin stay with Justin, he probably didn't present him as a boyfriend. I wouldn't be surprised if the remaining children have similar arrangements with other friends and she's happy to be able to spend Saturday's alone with her partner, without dealing with her responsibilities as a mother.

What we knew about Natasha was already enough to hate her, but sometimes people are awful to their ex and good to people they still care about. Benjamin reacting with “Oh shit. I’m going to need your help there” about his mother when Martin brought her up suggests this isn't the case, she's probably also not nice to her own kids. Martin was right in wanting to make sure Benjamin and Justin are serious about living with him, but they are and it will be helpful for them. They may not be out to other adults, just to Benjamin's dad and his friends who learned by accident accident. So they get support here that I don't know if they have elsewhere, plus time with an adult gay couple that provides a level of support that's different from what they can get from straight people. I hope there won't be any legal issues with Benjamin moving to there but, even if not, there will still be Natasha issues.

The ending changes the perspective on the accident. While it obviously not intentional, the reckless driving increased the chances of something going wrong. And that happened because of Tanya's jealousy and Johnny going through with her plan to scare her husband. I dislike her more with each chapter, I guess it will make it easier to not feel sorry for her when Tom, I assume, eventually divorces her.

The story of how things ended between Tom and Arjan is sad. It happened for external circumstances while they still loved each other. If I got the past exchange right, Arjan is the one who wanted a ring with a LotR quote and so Tom having it means he never got to give it to him before they broke up, Arjan probably only found out in chapter 1. Tanya is probably behind Arjan being suddenly moved to a different wing. Because of their past love, she wants to avoid them seeing each other.

Interesting premise. With the way Arjan reacted to the ring, was he the one who gave it to Tom? But that feels strange because the conversation with Jonny makes it seem that Tom and him weren't very pleasant to Arjan back in school. When Jonny says he " got all funny when we asked genuine questions about the hat thing", I imagine that was a lot about the questions being asked in a not nice way.

I'm intrigued by Miguel suddenly not being secretive about dating Hunter while he's at school, considering he didn't want his father to find out. Could his father have found out and surprised Miguel by actually accepting it? Or maybe the time Miguel had to spend apart from Hunter during lockdown made him more willing to take risks in order to savour every moment he can spend with him. I'm glad Yeison asked Hunter if he wanted him at dinner. Of course I knew the answer would be yes, but I also expected Yeison to worry about things being awkward. So it's better he asks and gets the reassurance from Hunter than to keep worrying about it on the inside. Hunter not wanting Carlos to date someone isn't good. First, it's not fair when Carlos fully supports him dating, although this is mostly moot because Hunter wouldn't tell him he feels this way. The other part is, while Hunter does fully love Miguel, he also has some kind of feelings for Carlos and I think this could be tied to his fear of commitment.

Good news on Phil, he won't be bothering anyone anytime soon, and probably for a long time. And I like the part about how temporary insanity is a TV defense, they pull that one all the time. The money situation with Philly gone is a concern. I'm guessing that's the cause of the move being teased in the title of the next chapter. If so, I hope for Sam's sake it's to a cheaper place in the same town, not far away from Virgil. I like the conversation with Steven. Sam feeling guilty about this is normal, but it's not his fault and Steven argued that point well.

I hope he doesn't disappear again, but I don't think he will. Back in a comment in chapter 11, he mentioned being busy because of his boyfriend, but then added "Once we get past that "honeymoon" phase, I'll be right back at it, I promise" and I'm going to believe him on that. The fact that he's been posting on erratic days suggests he's probably finding small bits of time to do it because he wants to continue it. But yes, like weinerdog said, even in the worst case scenario, we'll get to read Medellín in full. Doña Susana is right, “What the hell is ‘marshmallow topping’ doing on sweet potatoes?” And so is Ricardo, "survived three hours of American war simulations disguised as sport", emphasis on survived. I'm not a fan of sports that continuously stop and restart, I prefer them to keep flowing most of the time. I get the same impression as you about chapter 17, it would make sense from a narrative point of view after two chapters where everything went nicely, one focused on friends and one on the boyfriend. As for this chapter, maybe I'll post actual thoughts later, but I'll need to refresh myself on what happens in it first.

Considering even this story's chapters are being posted later than originally scheduled, he's probably very busy so I wouldn't expect it to be anytime soon. But, regarding the wait time, remember that we're reading his stories for free, which completely different from something people are paying for being delayed.

I didn't even realise this story ended. I guess it makes sense, it finish the story of what lead to the event of the first chapter. But I hope there will be a sequel, I think there's interesting stuff to explore in what happens next.

If she doesn't know, there may be...turmoil. Thankfully for Benjamin, regardless of how his mom reacts, he knows one of his parents took it well.

It's curious that Phil doesn't even remember what he did. And it may work against him, as he doesn't yet know the severity of it. We really need him to not get bail. It's nice to see Bobby and Tim took the news well. Allison's a brat, that was out of line, although it mostly came from curiosity. But it was hilarious, especially the part about the dick sizes.

That's a hell of a way for Benjamin to come out, bumping into his dad while being at a gay bar with his boyfriend, lmao. Attempts at finding a boyfriend for Marty are being useful, but not in expected way. One led to gaining a professional contact and the other to more time with his son.

Jesus, that escalated! So Phill is even worse than we could have possibly feared. At least Roger was attentive enough to see what was going on and reacted before Phill could get Sam alone with him. But Phill shooting the person he thought was Roger just because of this, that's a whole other level. He deserves the jail time and hopefully a divorce that keeps him away from his kids after he gets out.

I'm sorry to hear you had to deal with that, but I'm not surprised after what I saw in this story. You write the emotions Marcus felt in a strong enough way that I felt you must have had some kind of personal experience. Despite what I said above, there's one thing I want to mention. I think the conversation between Marcus and Hunter did a great job at conveying what it made Marcus feel. But I really like one detail of Hunter saying "when you were outed", rather than "when I outed you", the passive voice hides his blame like he can't say it.

Crisis averted, Sam came back, although only because he felt like he had no choice. I doubt Sam blames Virgil, he's just shaken by the situation, but I can see why Virgil's interprets Sam's words in the car that way. Virgil's father is okay with him experimenting with other boys, but it remains to be seen what he'll think if (when) it turns to be more than that. As for Sam's parents, I don't think we can conclude anything yet, they were to focus on worrying to show us what they think.

I think I should say I've continued to mostly read this story and it's good. But there were parts I had to just skim after some point because they're difficult to read because of the serious subject matter.because the subject matter makes them difficult to read. And I don't think I should comment if I don't read everything because I could miss relevant information, that's why I stopped a few chapters ago.

I think I should say I've been mostly read this story and it's good. But there were parts I had to just skim, especially in the first chapter and this one, because the subject matter makes them difficult to read. And I don't think I should comment if I don't read everything because I could miss relevant information, that's why I haven't been doing it.

Oh, you'll visit my country. I hope you'll enjoy it. To say something on topic, I like that Five said "Percy baby" in an affectionate way this time, rather than as a joke, it reflects the shift in their relationship.

I think the south coast Portugal, which is near the Mediterranean, gets about 22C water in the summer. But you get a few degrees more in the Mediterranean in Spain. And I'm on north of Portugal, we don't get the impact of being near the Mediterranean. So I think we get about 17C in the summer, but at least we get decent waves, not almost a salt water swimming pool.

This is a much wider insanity. Abolishing comes up every few years around here, but this somehow has to be a decision on the European Union level. And that means dealing with 27 countries and very different geographical locations in regards to variations in the lengths of days throughout the year.

I'm in Portugal. We, along with the UK and Ireland, are normally 8 hours ahead of you, but we haven't switched our clocks forward for the summer yet.

“I don’t need anymore caffeine but I’m freezing,” Percy said as pulled his hat further down over his ears. “I’ll buy you a hot chocolate,” Five said as he pulled open the door. Now I want a hot chocolate, but I can't because places that make those aren't open at midnight. And it seems Percy can't have one either because “Two Cowboy coffees” was the order placed by Five five minutes after promising Percy a hot chocolate.

If you want to kill someone, make it Michael. You don't even remember he exists, anyway. 😂