Timothy M.

In Danish elk (or moose) is called elg, I thinks it's älg in Swedish. And of course there's a SATW on the subject. plus http://satwcomic.com/happy-friendly-animals

I have to ask... Is you fly undone on that photo or is it a visual effect of the black pattern?

I want to mention that not only is my Swedish friend a great writer, but she's also an eminent reviewer. I would like to ask two questions: What is your focus when you review stories? What would / do you like to see mentioned in reviews of your stories? (eg characters, situations, cliff hanger rants etc)

Aww, Puppi, I didn't know you came to GA because you missed me. That makes me so happy. I can relate to the problem of trying to write in English as a Scandinavian. We have long complex sentence constructions which don't work at all in English. As for the punctuation I loved the use of local stuff including the few scattered sentences in Swedish, which I can understand immediately. My favorite one is Joel's granddad saying: “Det var väl roligt att ni hade trevligt igår kväll…”

That concept is totally weird for me. But I know it can happen if people are exposed to hate from a young age. So sad and stupid...

Hej Dodger, I'm sorry if my latest review made you feel like you're not doing things right with the story. On the contrary I wouldn't read and review if I didn't like your story in spite of how much your main character frustrates me. The last part of my review was meant to convey my understanding that Robbie is an insecure teen with lots of issues, and we shouldn't expect him to act rationally - and being love makes it worse of course. So I think you're doing very well on your story line, but I still want to shake some sense into Robbie, hence the ranting. It's sort of a backwards compliment showing that you push my buttons most effectively, usually the signs of a good author. As for my ranting at the other characters, I assumed you meant to portray Nicola and the others in a way which would piss Robbie off or at least make him react in various ways. As I want Robbie to be happy I get upset on his behalf when other people treat him badly. Nathan's dad might think he was funny, but I thought it was a cruel joke to play. I think Robbie was surprisingly forgiving and he was even able to laugh and joke back. Cool, but it doesn't make me like the dentist. Again that doesn't mean I don't like the story, it just gives me great opportunities to rant. Something I rather like to do... But if you prefer to be without, I can certainly stop reviewing, although I won't stop reading. Or just mention the stuff I like in the story.

I dislike condescending adults who feel entitled to treat other people with disrespect. OK, so Tony and Jackie are doing Jackson and his coach a favor by taking Jackson on, but that doesn't entitle them to call him Jack without asking, or tell him not to be nervous and jumpy when Tony is doing his best to be nasty. I have no quarrel with his assessment of the swimming and the improvements needed, I think Jackson will thrive with people who takes his swimming seriously and make demands. I hope they tell his mother to stay away, her behavior makes me cringe. Hugging your practically naked teen son and calling him 'baby' in public shows (once more) her utter lack of respect for her son and no understanding of proper parental code of conduct. I hope she'll be too busy shopping for and making proper food for him to bother him too much from now on. Oh, and perhaps Jackson can use the diet as an excuse to get out of lunch in school, since I doubt their meals fulfill his new trainers' criteria of a healthy diet. I was very happy to see Ally get the boot once more. Lily's advice wasn't worth much since Ally was as clingy as ever. Silly girl, she only made him more relieved to get rid of her. Luke has the right approach, he backs off and gives Jackson space and what happens: Jackson worries about not seeing him and about their relationship being broken. I think they will work it out, they're too attracted to each other to stay apart. Talk about moth to flame.

Now I miss Leo even more. But of course Brian is forever my favorite. excuse me while I go think about 'divine justice.'

I'm glad Jackson broke up with Ally, she was starting to annoy me even more than his mom. Her instincts are spot on though, she knows Luke is her rival for her boyfriend's attention, but she probably hasn't taken that feeling to its logical end.

guess now is not the time to quote that old English adage 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' at you? I can't say that I can relate since I like being on my own, but I can send you warm thoughts and virtual Danish hugs And remember there's almost always someone here to chat if you wake up at 3 am and feel lonely. That's one advantage of different time zones.

Yay - and official topic to congratulate you. Tillykke med fødselsdagen ! Happy waving of Danish birthday flags

Tillykke med fødselsdagen ! Sorry I'm late. LOL, just noticed the Santa killer tag. Made me think of these SATW comics http://satwcomic.com/merry-christmas http://satwcomic.com/christmas-traditions

We already knew Robbie is gullible and inconsiderate, and this chapter reinforced the impression. However, that doesn't make me dislike Nathan's father any less, what a jerk. At least Robbie realized how badly he behaved towards Rory and tried to make it up to him, but I'm not convinced he's out of I'm-an-asshole-to-my-friends mode. I was disappointed in Fran, I considered her a clever, kind girl and now she's degenerating into stereotype jilted girlfriend. At least Nicola was always a bitch so no disappointment there, when she says hurtful stuff. She may think it's a joke and the boys laughed at her when she told the person on the phone that she walked in on David and Robbie 'having sex' but it's this kind of hidden 'harmless' homophobia which grinds all of us down. She wanted to say something cutting to show they were acting like idiots and out pops two guys having sex as the most vilifying example she can imagine. The reaction and thoughts of Robbie at being caught kissing Nathan was another case of me being all Why does he expect to be thrown out? Nathan is out to his parents and while I understand him trying to protect Robbie-in-the-closet, it's pretty silly not to introduce him as his boyfriend. Now the secret is out anyway, as was bound to happen, and in a much worse manner. But while embarrassing I would expect Nathan's parents to be happy he's found someone to love who loves him back. Oh, and I loved that his mom's silly rule of 'leave the door open' meant she got an eyeful of something she probably didn't want to see. Serves her right. I've always when I've come across this in stories, it's such a shitty parent rule which shows a complete lack of trust in your kid. I want to flatter myself it's not seen in European stories, but I could be wrong. We have partly prudish countries here too and Robbie comes from one of them. I'm happy for Robbie and Nathan that their relationship is growing better all the time and I hope they'll be forever, but Robbie seriously needs to get his shit together and come out to at least his family and friends like Rory. What better way to tell Rory he's off the market for a boyfriend and show him utter trust than to come out and tell him about Nathan, before he tells anyone else. But I guess Robbie is simply not smart enough to work out such strategies and we shouldn't expect it of a confused and emotionally fragile teen like him. Sorry about always ranting at your story, but at least you know it hits the sore spots.

Aaww, Johnny the mentor, that's so awesome and a tiny bit cute. You know I can suddenly see Emma's point about having him and Bobby do the tolerance talk together. Johnny can tell then about how shitty it feels from the side of the victim of hazing and Bobby can hopefully shame them with how pathetic and stupid you feel when you realize how disgusting it is to be a bigoted useless asshole to your friend. It might even earn him some points with Johnny.

I happen to agree with Lisa (whose wonderful review you never replied to ). River's parents and his therapist weren't doing much to help, although I can understand why they would be scared of him harming the other kids. But why can't they see it's his frustration lashing out, because no one understands him - mainly because they're to stupid and can't keep up with someone with his intelligence. It's very telling how Matthew manages to break through his shell almost immediately, even if it's a scary experience for River. I had the same disbelief at the police part, but it doesn't matter, because the important part was River realizing he needed to go back and work with the people trying to help, no matter how dumb and useless they are, in order to have a chance to be with Matthew. I'll trust in my hope that he succeeds and like the Mississippi becomes someone to be admired and awed by.

I've commented on the cricket tragedy in the forum so I won't say anything about it here, other than I fully expect Clarissa to have made contingency plans which would allow her to follow Deon, and they've just become that much more important. She is a clever and caring girl and having Deon admit he's seriously thinking of giving his life with her priority over football is almost a stronger commitment than 'I love you.' I wonder if the kids of the apartment fled rather than live in stereotype pink and blue rooms. Honestly, what self-respecting 18+ person would want to live in kids colored rooms? I'm pretty sure neither Clarissa nor Kevin could tolerate pink walls in the long run. Anyway, why would the owner object to a neutral white, it's easily redone, and his children would probably like to have freshly painted rooms when they return. If Deon gets drafted by the Swans I'm certain Kevin will gladly give up the extra room in Liam's apartment to Clarissa, but I'm not sure what Liam will think of the idea. It was good to see Henry getting on well with the brat and having suggested a special training program to Julie. Although of course his efforts will be in vain, since I assume Ty will transfer to the Blues immediately after the draft? I can't wait to 'see' his face next Saturday (tomorrow in story time), but I hope you have a lot more chapters to go after that, since I foresee lots of matters needing to be sorted out once we know who gets which Leopard and Ross. Alistair will have his hands full, including pushing Ross to grow up and take responsibility for himself and control of his life. I was impressed by the few discussion points we were privy too. Good call on the social media stuff, I hadn't thought about that (not being on FB myself), and I'm glad he was properly appalled by the Stuart incident. He probably boosted Ross' confidence by saying Julie thought well of him, even if he didn't reveal anything we (and Ross) didn't already know if we've paid attention. The suggestion of stress management classes was another prime example of all the good Alistair can do for Ross. Did he stay around to meet Ross' mom or will that come later? Kevin is certainly scoring lots of points with Daphne and her family. I chuckled at her attempt to shield him from her parents, but he fielded the interrogation well, and he must realize they ask because they know Daphne is serious about him and vice versa. We didn't see much interaction between her and Clarissa, but they seemed to be on good terms already. Another reason to hope Clarissa will follow Deon to Sydney. I assume she'll be at the draft night, to support her boyfriend? That way she can also prevent any rash decisions. Did I forget anything? Perhaps I should say it was cool that Kevin managed to get Deon time with the head coach. I can't blame him for getting his hopes up. We do too, even if Deon tries to ignore the signs of being eminently draftable. Althogether another awesome chapter in spite of the sad finish.

If Ezra doesn't tell the truth to Josh and his mom I'm gonna hunt you down with a pitchfork and some very nasty Danish swearwords. His father and Luke needs to be brought to justice.

Sigh, poor silly Nix. I hope he feels secure in their love and devotion after this. Although, I'm sure they won't mind showing him all over again. lol

Well, I can't say it came as a surprise, and I can't even feel sorry for Kye, since his own stupidity brought it on. And since Ash didn't explain why Kye shouldn't go out without a body guard, I shan't feel too sorry for him either. It's pretty obvious the perfect way to revenge himself would be for the bad guy to kill Kye.

I just read your reply to Afrodita's review. Peterson's fist name

Review no 333 There were several important aha moments here for Corey. I think the major one was Pierre advising him to tell his mom how much she hurt him by siding with his dad. It's one thing to advice her son to leave in order for things to cool down, but she should have followed him and taken his side from then one. She needs to understand how much she has damaged him by her actions, mostly so Corey can get closure and start healing. I bet Corey's therapist agrees too. I know someone who was in that situation (for a different reason) and they were advised to tell their parents how hurt they were. It was tough on all of them, because the parents were very nice people who never intended to ignore the needs of their kid, who in turn felt bad about having to upset them. But they talked about it and were able to move on. Another important moment was Pierre telling Corey about finding out how close he and Jason were in the past and that Corey had feelings for the guy. If Corey had been honest about his crush Pierre would never have gotten hurt by Jason. Something to remember, eh? I want Corey and Jason to have a talk about how close they felt back then, because they both pretend to be surprised when people around them bring it up. They need to stop that. I also liked Drew being all protective of Jason and telling Corey to shape up. He sided with his friends against his brother when Jason behaved like an idiot. He loves Corey like a brother, but if Corey hurts Jason, he'll lose his friend just like that. Not that Corey intends to, of course, but being warned is a good reminder of keeping his focus on his relationship and not the past or his father. I keep forgetting to tell you, but I really love this story.

My main impression from this chapter was how Jason always focused on what would make Corey happy: saying Pierre was good for Corey (very true), organizing to visit David and Pierre, stripping naked for his boyfriend, being protective of both Pierre and Corey, admitting he wouldn't have been good for Corey back then, but knowing he's good for hm now. In return Corey is better at telling Jason he appreciates his love and caring, and that's important too. This holiday is very good for both of them. Not only for reconnecting with Drew and Pierre but for their relationship too.

Of all the annoying mothers I've met in stories, Kendra was one of the funniest even though she made me cringe.

Hey Cole, I'd almost forgotten about Harrison. When do we get his story? It wasn't a suprise to me he has Aspergers, but why did his parents stop telling him how they felt when they suspected this was his problem? And the person testing him must have been incompetent to be fooled like that. It's a shame he slid under the radar, because he could have had a lot more help and understanding if they knew. But it's lucky he has Justin as his new room mate, can't wait to read more.

Tillykke med fødselsdagen !