Rabble_Rouser

I was thinking the same... hmmm, I wonder what Ian's reaction would be if he was fostered by another Minister and his wife? Steve

I agree with everyone else so far that Kevin is a problem that needs to be dealt with. I think the Harvey's will be the ones to do it as they seem to recognize that he's causing problems in the house, not just with Ian, but with the others too. I know I've said this before but following Ian's discovery of the outside world is fascinating! I think Ian's spending his Sunday afternoon's with the Delmar family will help strengthen his bond with Matt and really give him alot to think about how a Minister can be the father of a happy and healthy family. I could just imagine Kyle's heart melting a bit when he found out Ian wanted to get a job so he could buy a gift for the guy who helped rescue him and Tony from the house of horrors. It's good to see Tony is doing so well in his placement. It'll be interesting to see how the class interview on Ian comes out and the reaction of the other students and the teachers to it. Steve

A few more suggestions for college level stories that I've enjoyed: Towards The Decent Inn by Mike Arram: The first in a series of inter-related stories that use different genres & mystery plots (fails the get rich quick test in some parts but it's not portrayed in a positive light) All Stories Complete Welcome to the Family by Jacob Adams: College & Coming Out story with a hunky marine Story complete with Part II in progress One Life by Ryan Keith: A great story by a talented young Canadian author Story Complete Games at Deauville by David MacMillan: Adventure literature about new love in Depression era England (on www.awesomedude.com website) Story complete with Part II Complete Billy & Danny by Mickey S: A college romance that challenges social norms of the 1960's Story Complete Steve

I also loved this story and it's characters! Definitely one of my recommended reads! Steve

I've been thinking the same thing as Extech52... there are so many issues and directions Vance can take us with this story that it adds another reason why I'm always impatient for Friday to arrive! Steve

I enjoyed seeing Ian start discovering a whole world that he had been forceably removed from for his entire life. I was especially glad to see Ian get angry with the good Reverend and his wife for robbing Ian of experiences that every child should have. I think Ian will eventually figure out why he likes it when Nathan flirts with him and then we'll see the sparks fly! Steve

Couldn't have said it better myself! I'm curious as to what information the detectives were looking for and hopefully we'll find out soon if Tony is doing OK. I do think that Ian's going to have a tough time adjusting and the house parents continue to give him guidance. Steve Steve

My a**! If he was the loving and caring father why wasn't the kid allowed to see his mother for more than an hour a day (and I'm assuming that the father worked so that means the kid was locked in his room all day), was only allowed to go to the bathroom once a day and they were keeping him from school in his best interests... that's why they have a 9 year old (Gr.4 or 5) who can't read? The mother should also be charged... her decision to let her husband make the decisions doesn't exempt her from her responsibility to her child! Aaagggh! I hope the child gets to go to a loving family and the parents get alot of time behind bars! Steve

I'm glad to see the hotline call worked this time. I don't know if it will be clear sailing for Ian yet though. Hopefully Social Services gets him some professional help to sort thru things. Although I was tempted to breathe a sigh of relief when I read this chapter, we don't know yet where Ian will be placed for foster care. He could get a set of foster parents just as bad as the good reverend and his wife or worse someone from his parent's church. I hope the news of the arrest and charges against the minister and his wife open the eyes of the congregation and that the police are asking why they didn't report it. I will be happy when the courts decide to put the good reverend and the wife UNDER the jail. Also, why do I have the suspicion that Ian will be seeing Nathan at the group home...

Nicky, Thank you for providing the link to that valuable resource. I've taken the liberty to forward it to some frequent violators I know! Steve

I'm rally looking forward to chapter 5 since we've been given a glimmer of hope in this chapter. I wasn't sure when I started the chapter what role tony would play but it seems that he's become Ian's catalyst to see his parent's behaviour in a more realistic light. I was especially heartwarmed to see Ian's epiphany that maybe the punish had more to do with the good Reverend's cruelty than his inability to be a "good boy". Thanks Vance and I'm looking forward to next weekend already! Steve

Another great chapter! I think I can agree with everyone else that I think this chapter removed any glimmer of hope that the Reverend or his wife would have any redeeming qualities. I felt even more for Ian after the library chat knowing that he sought help for his abuse and only got a lecture from the social agencies about tying up their resources from people who really need help. As always, Vance creates stroies that are more thought provocing than anything else I've seen at GA. Steve

That was a great video! The english translation would be roughly "Live a long time to find the good. AIDS Protect Yourself" I don't think this is a Canadian ad since AIDS is usually refered to as SIDA in French here. Steve

Vance, Another great chapter in another great story! I find your stories addictive and compelling. Like DK, I find myself livid with the good reverend but I find his wife even more disgusting than him. She doesn't seem to met out the physical abuse but seems to take a sick enjoyment in it judging by her eagerness to report any transgressions to her husband. I spent a good amount of time thinking about this story after the first chapter. My Grandfather was a minister and I know he despised people like Ian's parents as he was a big believer in the "judge not lest ye be judged" school of thought and had no tolerance for hypocrites. It made me even more thankful of my family. While I think the physical abuse is horrible, I think Ian's biggest problem if (when) he gets removed from his "family" while be adjusting to a normal life. His parents seem to go to great lengths to keep him completely isolated from any social contact other than them. He's not even allowed to go between classes without an escort from his mother. I'm thinking that they do that not to do their duty to ensure their son is guided into adulthood with only good Christian influences (I'm still waiting to see some other than that expressed by the guys in the bathroom). Ian's social isolation does two things; ensure his parent can continue to abuse him without interference or risk of discovery and creates a belief by Ian that all kids are treated that way by their parents. I'm also surprised since they seem to think the public school is such a den of iniquity that they haven't home schooled Ian or sent him to a private christian school. Same goes for the wife. Also, about the good "christian" men and women of that church... it just sickens me that they know the abuse is going on (from the good reverend talking about it in his windbag sermons and from the comments about the willow tree looking bad because Ian has to cut so many switches off it). I understand some people believing a swat on the bum for a small child who hasn't reached the age where they can reason but beating a teenager with a stick\switch\belt goes so far beyond acceptable, I dont know where to begin with these people. Why they haven't fired the good reverend yet (like many other previous charges must have based upon the number of times Ian has had to move) is beyond me. Ok, I didn't intend for that to be so long but this story gets me more wound up than any of Vance's previous stories... I think I feel a little better now that I've gotten that off my chest! Steve (looking for the guy in the white hat riding the white horse to rescue Ian and impatiently waiting for the next chapter)

Vance, thanks for another great story... I will admit I'm a sucker for a happy ending. The editing did make the story easier to read and I'm looking forward to my next Vance fix! Steve

Wow! This gets better and better with each Chapter. I love the transformation you see in the characters in each chapter with Eddie getting softer and Dan getting harder. I agree with C James that at the beginning of the story I was sure that Daniel was gay but now I'm not so sure. I'm looking forward to more! Steve

Can't Wait!!!

***Your Linguistic Profile:*** 65% General American English 10% Dixie 10% Yankee 5% Midwestern 5% Upper Midwestern Hey, after working with Texans for 3 years, I've started to use "y'all" so that must have raised my Dixie! Oh, we always called the easy classes "bird" courses... don't know why but we did.

Vance, I doubt anyone will complain that they have to wait for the last chapter of Cameron... you've created a great story and have been posting at a pretty amazing rate... I don't think you need an excuse, so why offer one! Steve

Loved it! A great story and interesting characters. I didn't think it was at all like Dom's stuff until I read it in this thread... I just thought it was a really promising story. Steve

Hi mEis. Alot of it depends on your schedule or age... -When I was in high school (out in the country) I was up at 06:30, shower, breakfast & catching the bus by 7:30am and back off the bus by 04:15. - University was another world with no schedule and late nights and even later mornings - When I started working a job with normal hours, I was up at 5 am to go to the gym (before my brain was able to fully understand what I had planned ), at work by 7:30, home by 4:30 and bed by 10:30. - For the last couple of years, I've had a job that requires me to work from 9am to 5pm and then a few hours each night starting at midnight with a few overnighters thrown in. Steve

Yeah but how does that affect Luke and his true love Alice? Maybe they're for Ryan...

Jack, I just wanted to add my thanks for Splash... I just started to read some of your stuff last week and have been working my way through it all! As for Splash 3 featuring the two sons, I think they were very interesting characters that you could do alot of interesting things given their markedly different backgrounds and different University experiences. Looking forward to it... and now to start Vegas! Steve

My thinking exactly... I don't think it would be too much of a stretch that Kyle was subjected to a modern day version of the Spanish Inquisition by Mr.Harris and alot of questions about his own orientation given how close he was to Cameron and all the number of times he had him sleep over. If nothing else I bet his "loving" father wanted an explaination on how he didn't know about Cameron. I would bet that Kyle is being watched like a hawk by his Dad to ensure that Cameron didn't bring him over to the dark side. Steve

I finally starting reading this tonight (it's nice to have 4 Dom chapters to read back-to-back!). As I was reading I keep thinking that Oliver\David were two personalities in the same person as you often hear of people who are severely abused using this as a form "protection". One of the great things about Dom's stories (and the reason he has to have the busiest forums on GA) is that he leaves trails of crumbs in every direction giving everyone "evidence" of their perception of where the storyline is going to unfold... if Dom holds true to form, we won't know until it's over. Dom, you just keep getting better and better with each successive story! Steve