podga

This is heart-breaking. I don't know if I'm glad that Tibi didn't fold and change his story, when his father showed up. Does it even make a difference to Chad's fate if Tibi maintains the act was consensual? Adults don't often take kids' feelings into account, or at least not their permanence, and Chad, by virtue of his age and role, is still more responsible.

It's ironic that men, or rather boys, are basically forced to be with women on women's terms (because how many 15- or 16-year olds would refuse the opportunity to have sex?), but then it's their responsibility if the woman becomes pregnant. Although not too different for what many women face in "our" world. I'm a slow reader, I like to stop and ponder and enjoy, and it's a real struggle not to rush ahead.

Poor Chad. Poor Tibi.

This really hit me. So absolutely true.

I've got a full afternoon ahead of me to enjoy and comment on this, so I'm re-reading the first chapter, as well. It's a great start to the story, already giving us some intriguing information about this world and foreshadowings that Chad and Tibial might evolve into more than a mentor/mentee relationship. I particularly like how you describe both their emotions, and how well you switch from one to the other. I find that extremely difficult to do, and it's a real pleasure to see it achieved so seemlessly in this story. It would have felt less rich if we were seeing everything through one or the other's eyes.

Count your blessings, Ryan. Once sisters announce their pregnancy, they also feel free to provide entirely too much information on woman parts and bodily functions, and they start making tearful statements like "oh, I feel so fat" to which there are apparently only wrong answers a poor defenseless gay brother can provide. My advice to you is to keep your head down for the next eight or so months, and unless she specifically says something, keep pretending not to notice.

I'm with you on Dynasty, W_L. It came to Greece, as well, and people were obsessed. I used to come home for vacations, and my family would sit me down and interrogate me about developments (they were a couple of seasons behind) and argue with me--and each other--because they didn't believe me. It went something like this: Me: "So, Blake apparently has this brother--" Mom: "Sister! Dominique! She's back?" Me: "No, this is his brother, who's estranged--" Great-aunt: "Another illegitimate child?? Don't rich Americans have any morals??" Me: "No, this is a legitimate child, he and Blake have quarelled, and Alexis--" Uncle: "Older or younger than Blake?" Aunt: "Probably younger. They probably quarelled about the inheritance, because Blake's father left it all to him." Mom: "I thought Blake Carrington built Denver-Carrington himself. Didn't he?" Me: "Uhm, I think so. Anyway, Alexis finds Blake's brother--" Great-aunt, muttering darkly: "Nothing good can come of this. That evil woman will do anything for money and to hurt Krystle." Once everybody had managed to make their peace with what was in store for the Carringtons, we could move on to more mundane subjects involving our own family.

I really enjoyed this. Nice development of the story, plenty of surprising-but plausible-twists, lively dialogue, interesting characters. Brava! PS: I'm going to have to revisit because I ran out of likes...

I just saw this and what a pleasant surprise it is! Thank you, Cassie for a great review (and as you know I'm reading Reach) and Trebs for including it/me in the Author Showcase. And Joann, thank you, as well, for the extra endorsement. -- happy podga

Thanks, Joann! I'm happy you liked it.

Thanks very much!

My most consistent choices are Kahlua with soda and ice or Ursus Roter on the rocks as a cocktail. I like ouzo with water and ice as an accompaniment to fried small fish and other appetizers and watching the sun set in the sea on a lazy summer evening. Yettie, I had a similar experience with gin over twenty years ago, and it still makes me nauseous to even remember the taste. Too bad your experience was with ouzo, though.

I always loved fairy tales as a child, and I just found I still do. Wrapped me right from the beginning, beautifully told, and like the best tales, contains both a lesson and a happily ever after. Wonderful!

Great chapter! Quick pace, yet still enough detail to give a sense of Leonidas before and how life has been disrupted. And intriguing hints about Ivy, his last name, and his potentially less-than-innocent involvement. I want to more! I just have one small issue: My understanding is that the creatures were station inhabitants who now appear possessed by something. There's no description of change in their physical characteristics, just their behavior and way they move. So one having "jagged" and sharp enough fingernails to slash through Pierce's uniform and do so much damage seemed a little strange, even if the creature previously had long nails that were broken in the immediately preceding struggle. Perhaps if it used a shard of glass from the broken rat tank? Or perhaps I missed something?

People will pick on you. But my reaction was to the plastic surgeon essentially calling her deformed. Seems like he was basically drumming up more business for his colleagues (and himself, because I doubt everything he does is pro bono).

Can't see the videos, but from the photos I honestly don't see what was so wrong with her before. And the plastic surgeon says he operated on "deformities"? That's just wrong.

Thank you, Cassie!

Thanks! I'm writing something now, and hope to start posting by the end of the month.

People that spit their chewing gum on the sidewalk.

Congratulations on your granddaughter, Joe! And if she has your nose, I hope it's a nice one

Thanks, Yettie, I'm tinting my hair lilac even as we speak! I'm not very good at being generally supportive when I can't offer solutions, but I've been working in the big, bad corporate world for more years than I care to mention, and have managed teams of different nationalities through thick and thin without everybody hating me at the end for most of that time. So in work or employment issues I can at least offer a sounding board and maybe even a couple of alternatives to consider, should anybody want that at any point.

Thank you very much, Percy! I'm glad you liked it.

Good start! Definitely looking forward to more.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

I'd like to extend the definition of infatuation, because I don't think it's limited to lust. I've become infatuated with colleagues, women, ideas, none of which I've felt the least sexual attraction towards. For me it's a craze, something I cannot define logically (and might not even want to), and it mostly has to do with where I am at a certain point, how I feel. Love is caring about the other more than myself, about wanting to know him or her, about wanting to be there for them more than I need them to be there for me. It's something that needs to be nurtured in order to grow and flourish. There might be some chemistry involved, some sort of magic, but that can also come along the way. And Ashi, speaking as one who was in a long-distance relationship for a lot longer than I was in a close-distance one (same guy, fortunately!), I think the main reason was exactly that we loved each other. Especially in this day and age, long-distance physically doesn't mean long-distance emotionally. We could keep on nurturing our relationship. In a way it was even easier, because we weren't subject to the normal wear-and-tear of daily life together, where you have to consider when the other wants to eat, or if he feels like going to the movies or running an errand, but it was also more difficult, because lack of physical contact also made it impossible to count on daily routines (or make-up sex ) to smoothe out problems between us. We had to really resolve issues, otherwise we might as well have called it quits.