Topher Lydon

I definitely agree there. His lunge for Oliver is very telling. Tarquin also doesn't know about the Red Note Book being out in the wild. He'd become a lot more dangerous were he to learn about that. Things are coming together for the endgame. Pieces carefully aligning, we just need to get the players to the stage. The Climax is over a three chapter arc.

You are 100% right Honestly I think he's heading for a breakdown. It's too much to dump on a kid in his early twenties. Problem, again, that Tarquin doesn't see in his arrogance, is that his brother is coming apart at the seams. And if he goes down, Tarquin is finished.

Hell yeah...

Thanks man, I am getting there, think I am down with a headcold... which would explain my inability to get stuff done today.

Will would disagree, while sipping coffee and nodding fervently. Andrew would put him in a headlock, noogie him, and switch it for decafe

Also both Tarquin and Oliver are written to have glaring flaws, they are not what their father hoped they'd be. The whole story is about Alistair's epectations for his boys. His "Great" plan that has been systematically undone because boys aren't machines, they aren't perfect. They have their own desires... their own needs. Tarquin's is that he wants to be King, Oliver's is that all he wants is freedom. Orel is the only one of the three that is both King, and Free. This one was written really quickly, I was publishing early chapters before the whole story has been written, it's a lot... rougher than my regular story where I have time to go back, edit, adjust pacing and characterizations... I broke one of my rules and I am paying a bit for doing so... But I truly hope the story is compelling.

Sorry um he locked the vault it was the bookcase he left unlocked, apologies... I thought that was clear. I will correct that. Nope he definitely closed the vault up:

speaking of which, back in 2001:

Real Merrickville-Wolford is also a bit of a snooty place, it's rather wealthy and full of very rich families. So... you know... we're going to enjoy our little wet, wild, and hockey adjacent world :

I actually have a really big fear of this. I am often asking myself, it is too much, am I going overboard in places... are there too many gay boys around... Then I look at all the other places around, were this Straight-topia... and my couples were straight we wouldn't be asking this question... the CW-verse Merrickville wouldn't be questioned... so... I'mma gonna have my gayboy paradise, thanks to Orel Magic, and I'mma gonna keep going with it. Pooor Lydia, always the bridesmaid, never the bride!

Oh man, it's going to be the weird one, IT IS ALWAYS the weird one who gets the Hockey Jacket LOL

I am working on a second story, it's slow going and I needed to work on something else while I digested it. I am a little tired so trying to keep my energy up.

I admit a certain level of weakness when it comes to my knowledge of planes. My envisioning was the drone got sucked into the engine, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing... My execution of this chapter was... poor. Hey, I sometimes get things wrong. As for the ELT, considering how vast much of Northern Ontario is, not taking it with you would be a death sentence. Bear country like that, injured, you're praying for rescue, even if it means capture.

23 Chapters in this story, 5 more to go.

Thanks, that... I appreciate that. Actually really touched... it's been a day, and thank you. So as a Thank you: Huey, Dewy and Louis or Alvin, Simon, and Theodore For the future Harding Sprogs?

I don't think I say it enough AKA, but your summaries are a high point of my day, thank you, you ALWAYS make me smile.

Tarquin has also overlooked something in his efforts for conservatorship... if it were to be granted, once Finn and Orel are married, it would not be Tarquin who get's to be the conservator. He's too wrapped in his narratives, and his.. fantasy of commanding Orel and Finn, mirroring what he did in the barn, he just can't see the cliff he is driving right towards. Dominos are placed, the Gala comes nearer. And Finn has a choice to make. Orel has one to make as well, oh and his middle name is important, O.M.M. jokes a plenty:

That's a fair and frustrating question for any reader watching a character struggle. Oliver is, very much, trapped in a painful and flawed human logic right now—one where assuming he knows what's best (or worst) for others feels safer than the vulnerability of asking. I agree totally, Finn and Orel's agency; it matters in the long game of the story. Orel isn't going to be saved by anyone, he's the one who has to save himself, and Finn.

Thanks for the close read. You've pinpointed a crucial tension in Oliver's character—his intellectual clarity versus his emotional vulnerabilities, especially around ego and rejection. While his quick regression was intentional (stemming more from Orel's sting than Finn, as you noted), I'll take a look at that scene to see if his turning point could feel more earned for the reader. Appreciate the feedback on Lydia's potential role as well. It gives me things to think about for future chapters.

Orel just needs to figure out where his strength lies. Oliver is still the tragic figure in our little Shakespearean drama. At least he is finally doing right by Orel. And Tarquin, Tarquin always has a plan.

On an unrelated note, Carter's Echo is going quite well, 10 chapters. Tackling that missing Two years, the Toronto years for Will Andrew's first interaction with CSIS, where they notice him. Denton Jensen and what happened to him. Peter and Jason's story. The more I work with Merrickville, the more I realize I need to define what happened in 2001/2002. It gives me a chance to explore Alistair Merrick as well, and what kind of creature he really was. There has to be some reason Tarquin is the way that he is. I also get to explore Walter Grady's friendship with Thomas Highmore, and the 1978-1982 era, which as people know was a turbulent time of extremism and violence that puts even today's troubles into perspective. Andrew's journey from the idealist we saw in Shadow/Duty to the realist that would become the CSIS Operative. So after this one is released, I will release that story. It's not going to be a long one, but an important one.

now you know Alistair's plan for Orel. All hail the king?

Chapter Eighteen: The Archive of Hollow Kings The Merrick Vault did not look like a place of legend. It did not contain the skeletal remains of enemies, nor did it glitter with the stolen gold of the Third Reich, despite what the local teenagers whispered in the back booths of the diner. It was a room made of silence and cold air. Located behind a false bookcase in Alistair Merrick’s study—a mechanism that groaned with the effort of its own secrecy—the vault was a ten-by-ten box