Timothy M.

Allies against the Mages and their plans to ravage the Earth.

Stating the truth and calling adults on bullshit isn't bullying. He was being polite but honest with the social worker, and she might have been shocked but she wasn't upset or resentful or angry when they spoke on the porch. I'm reminded of Will from Mark Arbour's CAP series. He would have done the exact same things. btw - if Drake was supposed to have spent longer at the therapist, why was the social worker waiting for him when he came back? And why did she wait for him to sit down before she stood up to say hello?

YES ! I loved the way Drake took on the group home inadequacies. I hope he keeps up the fight there. And his response to the therapist was awesome. He needs to keep kicking the system till they let him have his own place. Why doesn't anyone take him to his home rather than wander the streets? Surely seeing the house and room he knows would be the best way of triggering memories. There is something fishy here. I cannot believe Kyle's mom didn't yell at them to wash their hands after grubbing in the dirt. But I'm going to assume Drake did it by himself, and you just forgot to mention it.

You're doing a very good job of portraying Jeff in a way which makes us understand him. He's misguided and ignorant, but he does love his kids. He yelled at David, but he didn't hit him or throw him out. He may be a disgusting idiot, but he's not evil. His mistakes over Simon and David are not caused by his alcoholism or his PTSD, so they're no excuse, but of course they make the situation worse. I despise Jeff, but I also feel a small sliver of pity for him. He's gonna lose the rest of his family, and if Simon kills himself (perhaps after going back and being abused mentally and physically), David and Suzanne will never forgive him.

Oh, right of course. I'll amend my comment. And that means Mason will soon be arriving in Sydney to enroll at the university, right ? Perhaps sharing an engineering course with Neil? same as always

Hmm, the invention seems to be useful for making people calm and happy, as well as momentarily horny. My guess is the mages will be using the mats to transport people they want to fuck to their private rooms.

You not only jumped back in time in the prologue but also in relation to the epilogue of book 3. That gave readers the chance to catch up with some of the main players and be reminded of the background in case we had forgotten. But luckily there was also some new stuff for those of us who are well versed in the Leopard universe. I hope Warwick won't worry about Ross sharing a house with another gay footballer. Maybe they can introduce him to Ross' school mate Andrew ? Assuming Ben wants to come out, of course. I wonder who does the house organizing and whether they knew about Ben. Otherwise, Charlie and Ollie are perhaps not the best combination, unless they also want Charlie to be cured of his shyness about sex. I'm glad Ben told Ollie who is just the right person to give confidence to two young shy teens. Is Ben a defender who's to replace Ty or a midfielder to replace Jim? Will we get to see him meet Jim? Ty and Tony's joke about checking out the competition suddenly got an extra twist, so I hope the brat is not in the vicinity when Ben meets Dad. Otherwise he may react badly. But it will be interesting to follow the Leopards with two gay players, one of which certainly needs their full support. I look forward to the Mardie Gras chapter. I'm sure Sam and Marcus will join the rest of them, and maybe Kevin, Daphne and her siblings too. It's a good idea to tell Deon and Clarissa about Daphne being transgender, because it's good to have friends you can trust. Like Kevin says, there's nothing to be ashamed off. Great chapter, Graeme, I'm glad I woke up early on this Saturday morning.

Hmm, perhaps I should give it a try. I haven't heard of it before, but I like dragons. Encounters Anthology idea pops up...

Once again you clearly show the problem with humanity and their rape of nature / the planet.

This article about the 104-year-old Australian scientist made me think of you and your characters. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-43957874

I'm glad they had a long and happy life with Sebastian and Jarek. Interesting concept with the hermaphrodites, but what about the dangers of giving birth?

Angsty teen love drama isn't my cup of tea, but I'll give it a chance just because it's you.

Ooops...

still one of my favorite chapters. Just perfect.

But at least they had several years in Paradise, which they can recall with fondness as they wander the desecrated earth. Better to have loved and lost...

Yes ! Victor and Shael finally admitted how they felt and what they wanted. I'm glad Victor has found love and so will everyone around him be. I guess plenty of them will be stunned by the new ice vamp.

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-44039857/spider-trained-to-jump-on-demand Because we'd all like a giant robot spider to jump us, right ?

I'm not so sure dismissing all the servants is a good idea. First of all, I feel sorry for them losing their jobs, do they deserve that ? I'm sure they have been working hard. Secondly, some of them might want revenge and go to JECHIS to reveal what they know about Oasis and the inhabitants, including the five new 'savages' although I guess only Penny's butler has met them. Wouldn't it have been better with a transition period while the inhabitants got their skills up to par ? Although, that might be dangerous too, since the servants would know about their coming dismissal while still having access to Oasis. And I have to admit it's a great idea to become self-reliant.

That's probably because they can't afford or get hold of prevention. Especially since charitable organizations will lose (US) donor money if they provide family planning advice. I hate the way religion has influence on politics, it's disgusting.

I forgot to say I loved the calm way Ross' Mum reacted and how she pointed out what Ross was avoiding (and funny how he managed to say the word sex, but not gay). I hadn't thought about her knowing like @ColumbusGuy did, but he's right about it not being that surprising. She's a wonderful parent.

Yes, we will. I still think Wu is an egocentric drama queen. He assumes he knows best, both with his best friend and his girlfriend. He's pushy and does what he feels like, with no respect for his best friend's wishes and feelings. I can start the list with: pushing for Ross to date, turning up after the combine, talking to Deon in order to push Ross into the spotlight, telling Ross' mum about the date, being ready to dump his best friend when even his girlfriend argues for him to give Ross a chance to explain, being so certain Ross is straight that he's left him no opening to share his secret. I'm sure there has been plenty of other less blatant examples during their friendship. Ross has put up with Wu, perhaps because he avoids conflict, but I guess they click in other ways too. Wu may be a suitable friend, but that doesn't mean I have to like him or approve of the way he acts. He simply rubs me up the wrong way, just like Alex does. They're not bad people, and they serve a purpose in the story - as well as giving me plenty of chances to rant. But Wu does get some credit for being quick to forget his anger and turn supportive.

The cockroach incident is still one of my favorite parts of this chapter (both the confrontation and Julie's comment about it later). In a way the bastard did Dave a favor, because it meant he showed the recruiters he would stand up for himself, but not go overboard. But I still think they should have reported him officially.

If people only had kids because they really wanted them and were able to take care of them, this world would be a much better place. Stories of people in the modern world who have a high number of kids and flaunt the fact makes me really . It's irresponsible and selfish.

The only thing missing in Oasis is for them to be able to grow their own food. But it would be a shame to fell forest areas for this, so perhaps they could acquire some nearby farmland ? btw it was nice to have a calm chapter with rational caring.

Ugh, Jeff is so oblivious it would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. And your cliff hanger is epic.