impunity

Another fantastic chapter! Actually, this was one of the best so far. I especially loved that Will completely controlled the conversation about Buzz, as well as his epiphany that he's not the most normal of teenagers. Thanks you. Hope you get some quality time off soon.

No time to review yesterday, so here's a quick one over breakfast. I'm starting to realize there's a downside to these weekday chapters. I agree with Tim. Kevin's story was terribly sad and -worthy. But he and Warwick are adorable together. I really hope it work out for them, even if Warwick has to eventually move to Sydney. (Although, I'm kind of hoping all my favorite characters end up in Melbourne so you can write another book about them. Can you convince the Swans to trade Kevin?) That one-day combine was insanely intense. I almost needed a nap after reading about it. Now I'm wondering if the 4-day one would have been equally intense over all 4 days, or less so because the activities were more spread out. Regardless, it seems pretty clear that Ross's skills aren't equal to Deon's. I'm still predicting he will end up with the Leopards and benefiting from Julie's coaching (not to mention the safe environment in which to come out). Not really looking forward to reading about his upcoming "date" (like watching a scary movie with one's eyes covered). Neil and Liam were sweet as ever. (And are a couple more characters who need to find a way to stay in Melbourne before this is over.) Actually, that's a point I don't really understand. If Liam is planning to work part time during university so that he can move to Sydney, why couldn't they both work part time and share a place in Melbourne? Or was it that they didn't feel ready to move in together yet?

While I like that you're alternating POVs, it took me most of the chapter to orient the action chronologically with the last one. You might consider some cues (e.g. providing dates/times for the chapters) to indicate when a time period is being repeated. That said, I am really enjoying the story and character development. Looking forward to the next installment.

I meant the Midwestern (Ohio to Chicago) one, of course.

Alternatively, do you have someone for Cam? Edit: Actually, he has brown hair, doesn't he?

Devin?

Wow, I didn't realize how intrusive the recruiter interviews could get. Isaac was really prying into the guys' personal details. Ross's "date" Saturday night is looking more and more ominous. I am really hoping Ross doesn't end up in an abusive situation. Or, if he does, that he's smart enough to turn to his friends for help. I completely agree with Tim on how awesome Kevin's character is becoming. He and Warwick are adorable. I hope things do progress for them, although Kevin will eventually have to return to Sydney. Charlie's meeting with St. Kilda is definitely intriguing. Could it be a recruitment opportunity? How would being in the AFL work with his university degree? Is it even an option or would he have to put his degree on hold? Graeme, would you be willing to fill us in on how the draft results are made public? For example, are they broadcast in real time on live TV or published after the fact? Although, if this will be explained in an upcoming chapter (e.g. during a radio broadcast), it's OK to wait. I really liked how Jim and Paul explained the combines this week.

Now we're getting somewhere! Lots of interesting new fodder for discussion. Things I think are worth mentioning: 1. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks"Dally Dalby" is an awful name. Clearly Dally does, too. 2. Brad's getting Grace to book the flight was the world's lamest attempt at hiding one's movements. Doesn't Grace book all his travel arrangements? How much of a reach would it be for someone to connect a flight booked by his executive assistant with him? 3. So, now the dead characters are retrospectively named (complete with summary backstories). I still find this a bit unsatisfying according to the agreed-upon rules.

Armand! It always bothered me that no one even tried to get him to finish school.

I have a friend who works there. Oddly, he didn't take the time to post about it on FB.

Young man, you need to work on your joke-recognition skills.

Gentlemen, you are completely missing the point of my comment. All I meant was Jeremy's disclaimer that the song may have been insufficiently retro was unnecessary because the song, itself, was from the '80s, regardless of who covered it.

Since we're speculating, and as I appear to be able to influence which characters Mark kills off, I'm going to suggest ... Maddy! There's no room for whiny children in this story.

Seriously? That song is as '80s as it gets...at least, everywhere other than in the US. It was one of my favorites during my own high school years, which were definitely in the '80s. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_in_America

Me too! Aren't staff (other than Rosa) by definition expendable?

Jesus, Mark! That was totally not called for first thing in the morning. Also, when I said you could kill off Buzz, I didn't mean you should go out and do it immediately. A little advance warning might have been polite. I have a bunch of questions now. 1. How did Brad explain to Buzz that he wasn't getting on the plane? A sudden mysterious emergency in the opposite direction? I can't imagine he picked Buzz as his other trusted confidant (although you never know after that single sexual encounter.) 2. Are we counting the pilot and co-pilot as "named character" deaths, even though we didn't know their names? Is it enough that Will (presumably) knew their names? Or were there two other named deaths that I have somehow forgotten? 3. Could Buzz really not get beans and hot sauce in California? What kind of operation is JP running out there? Still looking forward to the arrival of Dally.

Liam and Alannah are adorable. Josh and Galen...less so. Hopefully they'll figure it out soon. As soon as we find out what happened to Galen. That cliffhanger was a awfully damn mean. Thanks for the update! Looking forward to the next one.

I last had a .edu account in 2002 (uchicago ). I stayed off Facebook until 2010.

Poor Ross. Things are just going from bad to worse for him. Hopefully the combine will go well, but Saturday night has all the makings of a disaster. And poor Ty. He is trying so hard to stay upbeat and supportive. Watching him feel left out for most of the book is going to be really difficult. Looking forward to Kevin's not date on Friday. Probably almost as much as he is.

I'd forgotten about Kevin. He's looking pretty likely to die on this book. Btw, no one's died so far, right? I'm getting a bit rusty on the early bits.

Oh, wow. I'm late, too. Happy belated birthday!

I'd be perfectly fine with your killing off Buzz.

I'm going to agree with the two gentlemen before me that Buzz is an outright sleaze. At least Will and Brad are both experienced and self-confident enough to deal with him. Poor JJ, though. Buzz had better hope that he does somehow manage to keep his escapades on the down low; I can't see either Will's or Brad's taking this well if it came out. JJ would probably at least derive some satisfaction that he got there first, until the self-doubt set in again. Fortunately, this is CAP, so we're almost certain to get some really good drama out of this! Probably over Sunday dinner. Hey, when does Dally arrive?

It's a no-win situation.

I'm going to out-pedant you and point out that it should probably be "their deaths' what?".