Davide

Children can be very cruel. I'm going to assume the kindergarten teacher didn't hear what those bullies said because they can't hear everything all of them say. But whatever led to the bullies immediately targeting this character will probably make bullies continue to haunt him through his school years. He's seemingly in the path to a difficult life and I want to hug him.

For the prologue, we have Tyler's Dilemma: No Tyler Edition. Which probably means Brandon will appear eventually and maybe Owen too, but I doubt AG47Fox will. It feels like Owen must have been hiding something, a guy who claims he's a bottom refusing to bottom for six whole months of dating is fishy, even with the big dick excuse. Meanwhile, Brandon left me unsure of whether he's actually at least 18 or not and it's a dick move if he's not because he could get someone in trouble. But, if he's indeed younger, I appreciate that he said he's 18, it gives Al some amount of plausible deniability, as Brandon pointed out. Not revealing his name in a hookup sounded like the smart move for a young guy, adult or not. Brandon is cocky, which works for hookups like this, but could be a big much in other contexts if he's not careful. But I don't think his cockiness goes so far as to be off putting, so this is a minor point. He otherwise seems like an interesting guy, smart, artistic and I'm a fan of blue hair. Hyperthymesia sounds like hell, I'd hate to have that. Sure, it sounds good that he can remember useful things easily, but that's until you think of the bad stuff. Wikipedia says people with this condition remember things in vivid detail, so imagine if something horrible happens and he's stuck with the vivid details of it forever in his memory. I'm looking forward to seeing how Brandon will interact with the story and for me to meet Tyler.

I had to go with a sarcastic shocked face for the idea of more turmoil in the story called turmoil.

That was a wholesome chapter, coming before the storm we expect from Natasha. Benjamin and Justin have good reasons to want to move in, it's far from only being about sex. Martin getting Justin moved right away was a good call, considering the shared house situation. And, despite Benjamin's complaints, making him wait a week was the right decision, they need to tell his mother first. It's great to know he can legally move, regardless of what Natasha thinks, but talking to hear about it is still a delicate matter that shouldn't be done immediately before Martin goes away for a few days. I think Martin should tell Benjamin and his other children about his real family and sudden wealth soon. It made sense for to make sure him and his boyfriend wanted to move in without having that knowledge, which could have influenced the decision for the wrong reasons. But now, after he returns, they deserve to know the truth. That being said, it's not an easy topic to suddenly drop on them, so I wouldn't be surprised if he keeps avoid it for a while longer. Natasha is different story, she doesn't have to know.

It's sad for Sam and Virgil that some guys who used to be friends didn't go to the party because they're gay. But them and Sam found a new good friend in Art, whose comfortable with them being gay. And the new friendship is great for Art too, having faced his own share of losing friends to bigotry, and now finding accepting ones. Art having skipped a year is impressive. Meanwhile, teenage boys discover the wonders of the prostate. And the straight friend is comfortable enough with his sexuality to let a gay guy insert his finger there.

Yes, I intend to continue reading it. I'll make sure to read and comment on chapter 2 before chapter 3 drops. But I expect most of the time I won't be able to comments until Fridays, as Thursday are my busiest days. I tend to be unable to write short comments if stories have enough stuff going on, but it seems that's not a bad thing.

In the short time I've been on GA, I hadn't yet ventured into stories taking place outside of what exists in the real world, but I kept seeing the "Hazardous Updates" thread in the forum and I figured it would be a good place to start. I'm sad for Malik because his life at home sucks with the awful way his stepfather treats him, to the point where he feels the need to find places to hide. But now the good part of his life, his friends, is not so good anymore after he saw them together. And he ended up who knows where (except maybe the people who already read chapter 2) and whether it's dangerous (it probably is, the story has a fighting tag). On the other hand, maybe he'll eventually find something good wherever he is, and it lets him avoid having to fake things in front of the friends I don't like. Malik being attracted to Salma and her not reciprocating sucks for him but it's outside her control. However, her and Hawk seemingly knowing that and not telling him they're together is shitty of them (in a way that's realistic for teenagers). He was going to find out sooner or later and this way is more painful. On top of that, Salma had a gun and Hawk had a knife in case the place is dangerous, but the two of them proceed to leave the only unharmed person alone. And they were more interested being able to make out because Malik wasn't there than on his safety. Lock picking a door labeled "Hazardous" is a bad idea. But, to Malik's credit, he was at least initially aware that entering it alone without even telling his was a bad idea. And once he had seen them together, I can understand rational thought being put aside. I wonder if Salma and Hawk will think Malik disappeared because he caught them making out, maybe thinking he ran away. I'd feel bad if I wasn't annoyed at them.

Thank you for the clarification. And I'm sorry, I should have clicked on one, then I'd have the solution without needing to ask.

When looking through the list of an author's stories, sometimes there's one that has a green background on that menu. I've seen a small number like that, I think I haven't noticed more than one from the same authors but I can't figure out the pattern or relation between them.

I used it in my comment above, but my nickname for Willie LeDeuce is changing his surname to LeDouche.

That's a big coincidence with Arlo and that discount gesture was nice. The first day of school sucked because of Willie LeDouche, but thank god for Scott. We'll see if that's enough to stop LeDouche, but it may just delay things until he can get his own backup. It was good of them to befriend Art right on his first day, it can be difficult to make new friends when everyone already knows each other.

That went a lot better than I expected. First, Anna reconnected with Cooper, it will help him to have someone around on Sundays who's a friend and knows what happened years ago. Then Garret was friendly to an extent that it seems he's still interested in Cooper, which makes sense since we learned the reason they broke up was an external factor. And now Brian, unlike what Cooper feared, was nice when they talked at the end. I get Cooper's reaction because one short conversation can't erase years of not being friends over a single kiss. And, while he doesn't have to forgive years of that, I think Cooper should do it for his own benefit, he'll feel better if he does it.

To keep it vague until the next chapter gets posted on GA, I'll say that one made me disappointed in Hunter, but I believe he got the right push to make him learn from these mistakes.

So Tim has seen Bobby's boner and remembers it's size, I wonder if they're a couple too. Both of them plus Scott also got boners while in a group of naked guys, but this is a lot less conclusive because they're at an age where even the wind blowing at the right angle can give them boners. Now school is coming next and that could be rough. First, for Sam and Virgil because the stuff with Sam's father made people know they're gay. But, second, for Sam and Bobby because people know their father is in jail. Which means Sam gets potentially hit by both.

It sounds like Bryan keeps dating new girls to try to convince himself he's not gay. And he kisses like a dead fish is he's not attracted to them. I'm glad Cooper's parents supported him when he came out. If he's going to deal with some difficulties about being gay, I'd rather that be balanced out.

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.