Lux Apollo

“I’m so sorry, guys. I don’t know what to say,” I said, setting their plates in front of them. The pork Wellington looked and smelled fabulous when I’d cut it into servings a moment ago, exactly how I wanted it. I knew the lemony grilled artichokes I made as a side would be a hit as well. My brother- and sister-in-law looked impressed by the plating, too. Mike didn’t know what he was missing out on. Mitchell shook his head. “You don’t have to say anything, David. Sometimes you have to put wo

It's going to be interesting to see the fallout for this escape on Sam's parents and those of his friends, and also on Glenn who is now the only scapegoat left. We don't really have an understanding of the changed political boundaries in the story, and what they mean for the country yet and I hope we do get more information on this background to give a little more context.

Hiding his true feelings behind a facade is a defense mechanism St. John learned early in life, and it really comes out in force when things go bad - he lashes out emotionally because he feels it's all he has in him. Admitting love is a challenge for him, for sure, and maybe John will have something to say about that soon. Hmm...

There are lots of things people are okay with in theory until it happens in practice, I get that. The story isn't going to end in cheating. Mike and David are not those kind of people, I can tell you that much.

September 14, 2021 Jubilee arrived this evening with three new kids in tow. I didn’t think she was still around. Jubilee, of course, slugged me in the shoulder while giving me a shit-eating grin and then proceeded into gossip mode for a few minutes. She was exhausted, though, so we left it alone so she could get some sleep. Pete said he didn’t tell me because he thought it would be a nice surprise since Jubes and I had started to become pretty close in the months before I lef

Jason is lucky that was probably a squirrel and not a skunk. Maybe then Corey *would* have had enough excuse to turn tail and run. I was a touch surprised that you decided to advance things with their rekindling friendship so far in a single chapter. Good stuff, overall.

Enjoying things so far, though there is still so much mystery and so much to learn about this world. You are doing an amazing job given the limits of the format. I'm getting more and more curious about how your were-folk differ from the more common tropes.

Another great chapter. I'm not totally surprised at Nobuyuki's decision to take the high road and leave Daisuke with a psychological torture. The physical pain would only feed into Daisuke's ego. I am, however, surprised that Masahiro allowed Katsumi to go free. Well, perhaps since father and son was a theme here, it should not be surprising. I'm glad Dante spooked Katsumi before she could do whatever she may have been planning when entering the brothel. Now on to see Victor and Vladimir's father...

Just curious - I know some people are completionists and certain games require multiple runs to do everything, but are there games that keep drawing you back in even if you've seen all there is to see and done all there is to do? Are there specific features that get you going? For me, tactical rpgs and dungeon crawlers like the Etrian Odyssey games get more than their fair share of replay. There's just something about the customization, the careful planning, etc. that keeps bringing me back to do new campaigns.

Anybody play Fire Emblem and the like, or some of the more tactical SMT games?

Fire Emblem Etrian Odyssey Shin Megami Tensei Smash Bros. Mario Kart Pokemon (core games, no spinoffs) Ace Attorney Professor Layton

August 23, 2021 Well, here I am. It’s been almost twenty years, but I’m back. In the back of my mind I could just see my teenage self screaming bloody murder and attempting to burn my head off as I drove up through the gate. I swore I’d never come back to this place, except to raze it. Guess I was wrong. It’s amazing what a regular salary, free room and board and summers off will make a guy do. I always knew Xavier had money, but I didn’t think he paid his t

I have to echo Hunter's thoughts on David and Alex vs. Twoey and Erik. I love how you are using the relationships as a reflection of one another - both David and Twoey are using a simulacrum for the relationship they really want because Twoey couldn't wait for David to finish his recovery to talk to him about what happened and David is once again allowing himself to be swept along by other people's plans and desires because of what he thinks he wants or should want. That, of course, is slowly cracking. And Twoey's relationship, too. Now the real question in my mind is this: although Erik has some good reason to be jealous of David, where does this need to control and isolate come from? Is there some sort of information about his past that we may become privy to down the road, something that will explain his behaviour (though definitely not justify it)? Good stuff.

July 4, 2021 Dominik’s gone. Fucking bastard. He should have listened to me when I told him seven years ago it wouldn’t work. I told him to just leave it be. Told him he’d get burnt, that he’d fucking get sick of putting up with me, that he’d leave. He should have just let it stay the meaningless fucking hook-ups it always had been. Hell, I should have listened to my own fucking advice when I let him back in two years ago after he finally got out of Shangri La. Should hav

Growing up happens differently for everyone. Finding yourself takes time, and for some of us it's not an easy process. Sometimes it can happen fast, all too fast. Sometimes we let parts of ourselves stray behind. Sometimes things must get worse before they can get better. Sometimes much, much worse. But these are the things that define us. That much, at least, St. John Allerdyce knows. But it's one thing to know something and another to live through it.

Nice chapter - more world building to go along with a bit of plot development. Can't wait to see how you handle Ethan's challenge!

Whether or not we hear Mike's side of the story in full is something that we shall have to wait for. I still haven't decided if we need to see things from his perspective directly. If it happens, it's a ways away. We're going to ride things out with David for now. Thanks for the comments!

Thanks! I'm glad it's working. I hope to be posting updates every week or so with this story. I have another one on the way that is much further along that will be weekly, but it's just fanfic so... I dunno. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! The feedback means a lot to me.

Thanks for the kind words and my first ever review! I wanted to write something that is hitting close to home (the mid-thirties rut, not the jealousy part thankfully). I'm seeing friends, my partner and I going through the same thing in one fashion or another and it's very interesting to me to see how we are each handling it differently - job changes, relationship changes, bringing children into their lives... I hope the story keeps you interested and meets expectations as it moves forward!

“But you absolutely must come, David!” I sighed, leaning back in my seat. “Look Vicky, I’ll ask Mike if he’s interested but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a no.” “And you can’t come by yourself? Jeez, David, I never would have thought you were so whipped,” she pouted before taking a drink of her latte. Victoria Collins was probably my best friend from work. Well, my former work. Maybe my future work, too, if the layoffs were in fact as temporary as they told me when I was given the

How do you navigate jealousy in your relationship? It can emerge at the most unexpected times, over the most unexpected people. For David, it's not something for which he was ever prepared.

Loved it! Ugh, after last chapter's cliffhanger this hit all the right notes. :-)

Great chapter! I feel like things are finally off and moving forward again after a period of marked retraction in speed of plot development. Bricks are now laying into place for David, and for the reader. We still haven't figured out what Erik's deal is, but as spikey as mentioned the possibility of multiple victims, perhaps Erik is another and his behaviour with Twooey is his way of dealing with it. Ah, speculation. Keep up the great work!

God I hope David gets a little less clueless once he's off the drugs a bit more. Yeah, I doubt it. Just another ticking time bomb and we have 6 weeks left...

Good chapter. I kind of am starting to agree with spikey582 about Alex. I'm sure you have your reasons, but it seems odd that we'd get reaction from her and not from, say, Lanni and Deena in particular.