Timothy M.

Damn, I starting to feel like a football here, being kicked all over the place by unexpected blows. But the last one was the worst. Jim will be devastated at this awful consequence of him coming out. I hope the club has some good lawyers who can help Ty, but at least he's 18 years old, so his dad can't force him home, can he ? Oh and Neil still gives me the creeps. Almost as much as the media idiots camping on Jim's doorstep.

Ha, ha, ha that was hilarious. A nice chapter to ligthen up after all the heavy stuff. When Guy and Tas started fighting, I was just waiting for the water hose and I was all YES ! when they got it. I hope this means more chapters soon. Oh and that he is sensible enough to get them to help with Lester.

Thank you so much for this thread. It made me very happy, since I haven't seen a single one of the movies you mention, and I'd never even heard of half the titles. Good to know I've managed to avoid wasting my time on these disasters. I wish I had something to contribute. Only thing coming to mind is the destruction of my childhood trust in the ability of film makers to sustain the willing suspension of disbelief and to uphold the inner logic of a fictional world. I didn't think of it like that when it happened, but I can clearly recall my utter disgust at being ripped out of my enjoyment and feeling insulted at having anyone assume I'd buy this crap. But it wasn't a whole film, just a single scene.

But she did have freedom and the trust of her husband to an extent which very few women of that time period would experience. It's one of the reasons I like the Bridgemont series so much. Caroline and Granger were both rational and emotional in a wonderful manner. She accepted his liasons with men and appreciated his promise to avoid other women. He admired her for her cleverness in monetary and political matters and trusted her to manage their estate and maintain their status in life. He condoned her taking lovers as long as it only happened when he was away, and accepted a 'bastard' child as his own. This is why Caroline's behavior is so inexplicable. She's clever and she knows what society is like and what is expected. The rules she has to obey are not imposed by Granger (who himself has to worry even more about being exposed). When he scolds her for mistakes, it's always about lack of judgement and outward propriety. She can be as scheming and naughty and rebellious as she likes, as long as it's done with discretion and for the greater good of their family and not for her personal gratification. When I think how horrified and disgusted Caroline was about Davina's behavior, it's ironic she's so unaware of the similarity to her own selfish and risky conduct. However, I do blame Granger for one thing: we never see him talk about these matters with his wife. It might be because Mark finds it boring to write about (so it happens behind the scenes). Or Granger just assumes Caroline shares his understanding of these aspects (and has learnt from earlier mistakes) and so he need not explain. But in this respect Caroline is all woman: she needs to talk about things and she wants to discuss matters and know what her husband is thinking. Or maybe I'm rambling on as usual without knowing what's really going on. Which I seem to recall promising not to do anymore....

I live in Copenhagen. Need I say more ? But I'm too old and boring to go to clubs and places. So I just live vicariously via the report from young gay nephews etc. And via the internet of course

Mostly a happy chapter with a tiny sad note in the flash back. Although the Anastasia part made me wonder naughtily about half siblings conceived under a full moon.

Once again I got it all wrong and my faith in Caroline was misplaced. Except maybe for the last sentence. Perhaps I should just stop predicting or guessing in case Mark delights in doing the exact opposite. He does have a history of teasing Tim.

Well you gave us the horse (several of them) and the cowboy, but you left out the roll in the hay. But I guess you have confidence in the imaginations of your readers.

Don't know why I never managed to leave a review on this story. Oh well, better late than never. Reading it again reminded me of the questions I had after I finished this quirky and cute tale. Like did they come out as a couple and what happened then? And how did Blake manage to exact a subtle but cruel revenge on Brad for hitting Alex? (busting him for DUI would be a start and making him look ridiculous in front of hot chicks next) One of the best things was the compassion Blake had for Alex, not pity, just understanding and a wish to help. And for all that Alex was harboring a hopeless love for his so-called best friend, he was clever enough to recognize Mr Right. In fact I'm sure he came out to Brad in order to close that chapter and be ready for true love. Shows courage.

I'm with Kieran here, I have two (female) cousins who had a Big White Wedding, it was a nightmare for the whole family. One of them was so awful it took years before we were able to talk about it, but by now it's a family joke to recall all the disasters. Back to Kieran who is now shown to be nice to children and responsible when he cares. When do we get to see his bad side?

No, but having lost one parent (edit or actually two, ie his mom and Robbie, plus Hank), it's certainly understandable how Will would worry about losing Brad too. He may have been justifying his bitchy behaviour when he explains it to Matt, but normally Will is quite honest about how he feels (often painfully so ). So I'm taking it at face value when he says:

I'm thinking Matt's previous problems with his kidneys may have messed up the results, the way it happened with JP. On the other hand its not like Mark to use the same plot ploy twice If Matt really is positive and Wade is too, will this increase the likelihood of them being a couple again ? - or will they do the blame game we've seen with Kevin and Cody ? If Matt is positive and Wade isn't, what are the odds then ? If Wade even hints at Matt-being-a-slut-who-has-only-himself-to-blame attitude, I'll lose my respect for him. But the question remains of course: who did Matt get it from originally ? If he has it... But maybe it doesn't matter if it's to be seen as another fall-out from the mess the CAP family members were in after 9/11. I cannot help but recall Brad's anger at Robbie for going back up without considering the consequences, I felt the same when I read that fateful chapter (silently screaming Fuck no, don't turn back, you idiot). In the end Matt may pay a higher price for his father's illogical and emotional ways/actions than Brad has.

Oh well at least I got a Will POV chapter. Always cheers me up no matter the content. And the irony of Will lecturing Wade about bad behavior and lack of manners was delightful.

I'm happy to use other words like acquisition if you like, but you'll note I very carefully didn't say who stole the marbles as opposed to who bought them afterwards. However, the old (and maybe once valid) argument of the marbles being safer at British Museum definitely sounds hollow when you stand in the new impressive museum built a short distance from Akropolis. In any case, you're quite right about the matter being a question of morals - against the greater might of money and influence.

I just got home from a visit to Athens. Made me think of the 'Elgin marbles' and wonder if you are embroiling Granger in this much disputed theft of Greek national treasure from Parthenon.

ANY sex scene you write with Granger is interesting - not to mention hot. I've yet to come across one that felt boring or unnecessary to the plot. But more to the point, the intimate trysts usually have a purpose in showing us how Granger feels about a specific man. And in this case we'd know the state of their friendship from how he and Cavendish had sex that night. Plus you'd hinted at Cavendish being excited about being Granger's 'slave' - this sounds unique to me. I'd suggest a poll but I'm fairly confident most of your Bridgemont fans would support the inclusion of as many of Granger's erotic encounters you can manage to depict.

So far Kieran isn't as bad as you've made him out to be in the story note. He treats his conquests nicely and makes no promises, and his dogs like him. OK there's the preying on other guys' dates, but they could just say no. I'm ready to like this world-weary selfish bastard.

Oh well at least Oli as teenager could come out knowing his parents had kept an even bigger secret from him I hope Buddy turns out to be a werewolf staying wolf either voluntarily or from being stuck. But maybe Oli would be able to sense this? If not a werewolf, I hope Buddy is a gay wolf The worst would be if he's an inverted werewolf, who's only human during the full moon. Unless Oli is able to change at will ? No matter what, it will be fun to follow the development of both past and present. The flash backs work just fine, now I'm used to them.

I feel cheated because we didn't get an account of the end of the Cavendish confrontation: their night together after going out to present a unified front of friendship to the courts. On the other hand I'm happy my guesses after chapter 12 were not that far off.

I actually have faith in Caroline's intelligence and social skills. Therefore I think she'll concede defeat, apologize to Granger and Cavendish, and explain to Granger why she tried to get more influence and support. Hopefully she'll also have learnt not to do these things behind her husband's back and not to jeopardize her reputation again.

YES ! I love it when the straight team mates say 'fuck your bigotted last century attitude' to the coach and the school and any idiot parents out there. and Luke threathening to quit and make it public why he did, was just awesome. Bad press and the risk of being sued for discrimination is the best way to hit idiot school officials. I noticed they're back to barebacking, nice sign of the unspoken commitment

As I've said over in the Wade and Alex forum (which I think is a better place for this discussion), Wade has chosen the relationship which holds the attraction based on intellectual rather than sexual compatibility. For me this is not surprising, but I wish Wade had learnt from the situation with Brad. He took a deep and meaningful friendship to a sexual level and almost into an actual relationship and it nearly destroyed several family ties. I saw Alex as Wade's potential soul mate as a friend, and I hoped for this rather than a boyfriend. I still think Wade has let himself be confused by the almost instant bonding with Alex and the huge crush he has on him. I hope at some point further on, Wade will make the opposite choice and have Matt as his boyfriend and Alex as his friend. And I think Matt has made this future choice more likely by his restraint and good manners in accepting the situation. But if Alex turns out to be the best life partner for Wade in the long run, I'm fine with this too, and I'll enjoy following Matt's search for a man who can make him happy. As long as Wade and Matt are in a good place with each other, I'll accept your choices for them, Mark.

Are you setting Jim up to be chosen to play for the Collingwood AFL team? If Eddie (the club president) is as pro-gay as it's show here, he'd probably think it a scoop to have the first out AFL player. Wouldn't that be No matter what like Cole says it's nice to see things going well at first. I'm sure once the attention of media and people in charge drops off, the homophobes will come out of the woodwork. Then we'll see the true worth of the support of Jim's team mates. You know I did have a suspicion about Dave in the previous story, but nothing precise and it's still pretty vague and could develop in either direction. So why don't you set up another poll

Hmm you don't pull your punches do you? Two major potential conflicts or at least two possible emotional upsets depending on the development. The Neil guy was creepy, who plans to stalk a newly out guy and break up his relationship just to get a place to stay? If this is the sort of behavior which makes Neil's dad object to homos I can almost symphatize Anyway, Jim's too young to be a sugar-daddy target, and I suspect Tony will soon sort Neil out and hook him up with people who can help in a more appropiate way. Deon's dad obviously hopes his son's presence in a club who accepts gay players and appeal to the LGBT crowd for support means Deon will be ready to forgive him. I hope so too, mainly for Deon's sake.

In hind sight I guess it's logical that Wade would put a higher priority on a relationship which is based on intellectual attraction and compatibility rather than sexual attraction and physical ecstasy. In spite of the problems with Alex's background he is a surer bet for a stable relationship than Matt. But Wade will have chosen the non-dramatic soul mate who won't challenge him the way Matt could. Plus we don't know if Alex (and his family) can accept Wade's past as a sexually abused youth. But maybe one of the bonus points of being with Alex is not being reminded of Matt rescuing him. (I don't think Wade has thought about it, so it's not a conscious choice.) The interesting consequence is we get to follow Matt as a single guy, which should be hot and fun.