Dabeagle

Apparently you can't trust angels, either.

Very good. I like the mixing in of real world issues that can influence a relationship. Well done.

Very enjoyable, glad to see it continue.

@Talo Segura thank you for including my story, that was very kind.

As a reader, @Myr, I like the top stories because I know what people are currently interested in reading. As a writer, it gives me a measure of how well readers are receiving the story and may draw a new reader if they see it listed. The reccomended stories seem to be older, not as many stories get 'reviewed' on average, and while cool to revisit doesn't bring something new to the table. Just my two cents.

Brian seems to be really all over the place. One minute happy and trusting, wanting to help and another suspicious at every turn. It almost seems as if Jonah isn't allowed mood swings. On the other hand, Jonah can't seem to take a hint - unless he sees something in Brian that betrays his feelings, or if he were actually running a scam. It's a very engaging story - thanks for sharing.

I don't recognize the premise. Sorry!

Well done. I felt pleasure every time I saw a new chapter had been posted, and I'm not always that patient when it comes to such things 🙂 Thank you for sharing.

As noted above, Cynthia is able to cut through Tyson's BS because she did the work to build bridges with him. I'm glad Tyson chose honesty with Masha in the end. Under pressure he could have squirmed, lied and made it worse. But I also think Masha made it clear, much as she likes and appreciates Tyson, Vlad has to be her priority. That kind of boundary is important; but for him to know that she will support him until he puts Vlad in danger says a lot. Obviously hoping Chase ends up in a Pay-Per-View TV trial and goes to jail, but it's nice that his career is over. Maybe his fall will tumble a few other jackass dominoes. Vlad is my favorite, though, and I'm glad to see him so happy and stable.

I have a feeling Tyson will feel the guiltiest he ever has when Masha and Vlad get a hold of him - and they will.

It was an initial reaction. First it was a little head-spinning to be reading from Edith's POV. She's conditioned and seems to understand it, but she forces it away. She has things - status - and she substitutes that for being a parent. She knows how awful the man is she married and it's not that she doesn't care - far from it, she's looking to maintain what she has and force her children to be second class citizens and props so that he will leave her alone. Why she can't go to her own family to sue for divorce or something I can only assume is because she doesn't want to lose her status. Masha will be furious because Tyson lied to her. He took the pills, possibly enough to kill him if he doesn't get the help he expected, and manipulated her into helping. What if she hadn't sent the video that day? What if something had come up, and she just hadn't had the time to follow his plan? What is his boyfriend going to say when he finds out Tyson took pills that may have ended his life after promising him not to? I don't see any easy forgiveness in his future. IN getting his freedom, he may have destroyed everything else. So yeah, wow. Good chapter.

Wow.

Well, you certainly set the hook in this one. Now we're all on the edge of our collective seats waiting to see if Tyson and Masha can pull this off.

Tyson's wheels are turning.

Obviously judging from the norms I grew up with, but Edith isn't a good person. Chase even less so. Tyson was much more relatable in this for me, though I can't put my finger on why. Good work.

Very well done chapter. Great work.

I don't know, the fans on TV looked pretty amped - throwing stuff on the ice. Our corporate office in Providence sent some folks in to work with us, and this one guy was like 'I just need to be on my couch by 8'. He was darned cute, too. I thought the Celtics would be stronger after their run last year. Kyrie definitely wasn't worth it, but then I've never been a fan of his. I'm old enough to remember when the Patriots were nicknamed the Patsies, and folks cheered for them in '85 (at least at my middle school lunch table) because they felt sorry for them. I, of course, didn't care for them - but like I said, I left football behind. The Blues were a great road team, but not as good at home which I find odd. I think Boston having home ice was actually an advantage for the Blues. The Indians, they were so good a few years ago. I feel your pain, watching them decline! I'm desperately hoping when the Padres trade, they don't get rid of their future for another that never, ever seems to come. Enjoy your season!

I have a bad habit of backing lousy franchises. I gave up football after the Chargers left town. I backed the Golden State Warriors way back in the Chris Mullin days (they since have rewarded my loyalty, of course). The Padres haven't been relevant in twenty years. If you find a team that has never won the biggest game, I'm probably in their fandom somewhere. Tonight, one more goes down. After 52 years, I dug out my old school St. Louis Blues jersey and hat - appropriate for their first ever Stanley Cup!

I don't think you should take any of those comments as a criticism of the story or the way you chose to tell it. If I did have a criticism, I'd send it to you privately. I'm more thinking from my perspective as a parent, if someone were to, for instance, say such vile things about my children's birth parents in an effort to hurt them, I don't think consoling the other child, hurting or not, would be at the top of my list. Obviously this is a different situation with different rules and different motivations and experiences in play. Would Masha have done better to let him stew until the next day before speaking with him? Maybe not. He's unstable enough that you may have to deal with some things in the now and others when he's more stable. Who really knows? I was just thinking my reaction in the same circumstances wouldn't have been the same as Masha's.

Perhaps from my perspective, experience with a system where I'm from, or my perception - I've always liked Vlad more. I can sympathize with Tyson to a point, but what he said...wow. What an awful, intensely personal, nasty, vile thing to say. In a sense I'm disappointed in Masha. What just happened must have hurt Vlad quite a bit, and I have no doubt will play into his next breakdown. I think my instinct would be more toward protecting my child - which then makes me wonder about motivations. For instance, Vlad's treatment improved because of Tyson, so would he withdraw (if he could) that care if he and Vlad had a falling out? Lines have to be drawn somewhere, and I know as a parent I'd be pretty salty toward someone who just did that to my kid.

A nice, warm chapter. It leaves one to wonder how you plan to 'solve' Tyson's situation. The more connected he grows, the harder reality will be for him. Can he devleop the coping skills to survive his home life? He just promised Charlie to visit - how will he keep that when he's said repeatedly his parents wouldn't allow it? Who is going to bring down his father? Could it eb Edith stopped visiting because the family is consumed by scandal? Wouldn't that be lovely?

It was a strong chapter, a building block.

Cynthia followed up like a professional. Unless those rooms are recorded, which I'd think they wouldn't be for privacy - however maybe they are as part of the treatement record - she managed to his Edith the only way that seems to matter to her - headlines. Reputation. I've come to like Vlad more than Tyson, which is odd on the one hand - both are as they are do to situations beyond their control. Vlad has chosen how he will respond to that, with the support of his family. Tyson doens't have support, but chose to react to the world as his most hated foe does - his mother. I wonder if it will ever occur to Tyson that Vlad sees the world differently, even though his problems are literally inside him?

His mother is a founding member of the See You Next Tuesday club. Some people.

Who'd have thought Tyson had it in him? Funny how people can parse other's problems so well, and be unable to apply them to themselves. So now it comes down to a real problem. Tyson can break the sharpener (which the social worker should have accounted for. Most things like that have to be counted at beginning and end) but now the problem is - what does he do with it? If he uses it, he breaks the deal for Vladimir's care. Will this occur to him? Will he hide it and then be accused later when it's found? Will he proceed unthinkingly and and face the threat he creates to Vladimir's care - and he stole something to hurt himself with right in front of Vlad. What will Vlad think when he realizes Tyson is taking things right in front of him to hurt himself with, even though he's made promises to Vlad? I liked having the cyrillc in parenthesis, and I was too lazy to look up the second one.